- April 25, 2024
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Palm Coast is resuming a project to add street lights along its unlighted roads.
The announcement that the project will resume came during a City Council meeting March 21, when City Council member Heidi Shipley asked about the program's status.
The city has long fielded complaints from residents about dark streets causing safety problems, and those complaints increased after a 16-year-old Matanzas High School student, Michelle Taylor, was struck by a car and killed while walking alongside Lakeview Boulevard March 2.
The city used to have a continuous street lighting program to eliminate dark areas, but it was cut by a previous City Council during the economic downturn.
That program is being revived.
"We're moving forward with that this year," City Manager Jim Landon said during the meeting.
Even while the continuous street lighting program was stalled, the city maintained a program that allows residents to request the installation of street lights on residential streets. But that program does not cover non-residential areas like the wooded stretch of road where Taylor was struck.
The city is proceeding with design for additional street lights on Belle Terre Parkway from Palm Coast Parkway to S.R. 100, Landon said, and could add other areas to the list.
"We have some other areas such as Whiteview, Lakeview, etc. that are also on our list," Landon said.
More than 1,200 residents have signed a petition urging the City Council to add street lights and sidewalks.
The proposed additional lighting will have to come before City Council for a vote before it is installed.
