A reader who hadn’t driven the West Seattle Bridge at night in a while messaged us this week, startled by how many of its lights were out. Wire theft affecting the bridge has long been an issue, but it’s hit the headlines again multiple times recently, particularly with the Gregory Galitzeck case (still not back in custody). And we got this reader report on Thursday from Jeff:
Just wanted to share that I came across 3-4 people collecting stolen wire at 10 am … Thursday 7/16, at the dead end of Marginal Place SW under the West Seattle Bridge. One wore a day-glow work jacket. They were meticulously laying it out and coiling it up to load it into a dark green SUV, the trunk of which was nearly full already with other obviously stolen wire. I called police and reported it. The operator took plenty of details and said dispatch had been notified. I had to get to work and was getting noticed by the guys so I didn’t stick around to see if the cops actually arrived (in time) to do anything. …
I think if SPD sent someone to patrol through there every other morning they’d catch people red-handed. These thieves are utterly brazen, doing this calmly in broad daylight. Looked like they’d been at it for at least half an hour given the amount already packed up, and weren’t in any hurry as I spent about 15 minutes circling and calling it in. It just makes me so mad we don’t seem to do anything to stop these guys inflicting 10x or 100x the cost damage (and safety hazards of dark roads) of the measly few hundred bucks they get from wrecking our public infrastructure.
We don’t know what if anything transpired from Jeff’s 911 call, as we don’t have an incident # to follow up on. But we did contact City Light with several questions about the overall bridge-wire-theft situation. The replies are from utility spokesperson Julie Moore.
She said there had been no new reports of bridge wire theft in the past few weeks. We also had two big-picture questions:
We asked about the status of reviewing/planning/adopting increased security to prevent/deter this kind of theft/vandalism, and whether anything had been done recently. Here’s the SCL reply:
We continue to employ theft prevention measures including installing tamper-proof handhole lids, welding access doors, or placing ecology blocks in front and over electrical facilities to prevent unauthorized access. We took these measures when we repaired damage impacting the lights on the bridge last fall. The recent incidents involved access doors and handholes in different locations. As we make repairs, we will take similar steps to prevent future tampering and theft.
We also asked about the latest on the repair/replacement plan for damaged/stolen bridge-light wiring. Here’s the SCL reply:
The damage that resulted in the West Seattle Bridge streetlight outages was extensive and included many panels along the bridge as well as the off and on ramps to both the bridge and Spokane Street Viaduct. Fully assessing needed repairs and then making those repairs requires lane closures for the safety of the public and our crews. We are actively working with SDOT on a traffic control plan. We do not have an estimated timeline for full restoration.
So – the bridge will remain dark for some time. The problem may be unsolved, but it’s nowhere near new; for historical context, here’s what they told us about theft-proofing attempts last year; And our archives note that former District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold addressed the problem in 2019.
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