SALT LAKE CITY — There is a growing issue in Salt Lake City that is putting people's safety at risk and costing the city close to a million dollars to repair: copper wire theft from streetlights.
A part of the city that is impacted by the thefts and vandalism is the 9th and 9th area in Salt Lake City.
"The more it grows and the more walkable it becomes, the more businesses and restaurants, boutiques and stuff that are in the area, you get more of that foot traffic,” said Davis Matson, who lives in the area. "Safety, between everyone sharing the roads — pedestrians, cars, cyclists, motorcyclists - pretty important for the area, I would say."
And a big part of that safety is having streetlights.
"In this area, we've had a lot of wire theft, vandalism,” explained David Pearson, the street lighting program manager for Salt Lake City. “People messing with our lighting systems, that includes cutting wires, opening our boxes, damaging our poles and stealing the copper that's in the ground."
And it’s not just streetlights — at the 9th and 9th intersection, the traffic lights went out in the middle of the night and it took crews a few days to fix.
"So when wire theft happens, we have to pull the damaged wire out and we have to refeed the entire circuit — from the power source to every single light, and sometimes that can be very difficult,” explained Pearson.
Police have set up surveillance nearby to monitor the problem.
Maddie Stagg lives nearby and was surprised to hear about people stealing copper wires.
"It’s also like frustrating because lights are not only crucial for cars, but people, pedestrians and bikers especially," she said.
Just for this fiscal year, Pearson said it cost public utilities $800,000 to make repairs after wire theft so far, which is more than 3-4 times the cost of previous years. They had to double their maintenance budget this year, which takes away from other programs.
"When vandals steal $1,000 worth of wire, it costs us more than $10,000 to replace and fix it,” said Pearson.
And it's not just in the 9th and 9th neighborhood — there are some other spots that have been impacted by wire theft:
- 900 S between 400 W and State St.
- 400/500 S "S" curve between 900 E and 1300 E
- SLC's Northwest Quadrant
- 150 S between 5600 W and 5200 W
- 700 S between 5600 W and 6400 W
- 300 S between 5600 W and 6400 W
- South Temple St between State St and 1300 E
- Guardsman Way
- 500 S and 600 S below I-80
- California Ave between Redwood Rd and 1100 W
"Our number one goal is safety, and wire theft compromises that in a big way,” said Pearson.
He said they are trying to use more aluminum wires now because they don’t fetch as much money as copper wires. But aluminum does deteriorate quicker than copper, so it could add to maintenance costs in the long run.
If you see anyone suspicious who might be pulling out wires or damaging lights, you’re asked to contact Salt Lake City Police.
