After NBC10 raised concerns about a lack of lighting along two stretches of the Schuylkill River Trail along Philadelphia's Kelly Drive, the city's streets department thought they had the issue resolved. But, the fix didn't hold and the trail was back in the dark overnight.
NBC10's cameras captured darkness along two portions of the city’s popular trail -- between Hunting Park and Reservoir Drive and between Fountain Green Drive and Brewery Hill Drive -- around 2 a.m. Friday.
We had first learned of the issue Wednesday when nighttime runners along Kelly Drive in Philadelphia said the darkness was making them feel unsafe and vulnerable to getting hurt.
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“I typically feel very confident when I’m running, but I actually feel pretty unsafe tonight,” Linda Hanlon of Center City said.
Hanlon is used to running half and full marathons and typically runs 60 to 70 miles along the Schuylkill Trail every week.
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When she went for her run Wednesday night, she found herself in the pitch black.
“This is the first time that I’ve been out after 5, after dark, and it’s really bad,” she said.
It was unclear as of Wednesday night how long the lights were out, but some witnesses said they noticed it days earlier.
The Philadelphia Streets Department said it was notified Wednesday of the lighting issues -- dozens of lights are involved -- along the trail and that it was investigating to make repairs as soon as possible.
Deputy Streets Commissioner Richard Montanez on Thursday told NBC10's Brian Sheehan that a worker went out to Kelly Drive on Wednesday night and reset a breaker. However, that breaker appeared to have tripped again after the worker left.
Another crew returned Thursday night to check out the breaker again, the City said. However, that didn't appear to fix the problem as the lights remained out Thursday night into Friday morning.
Montanez said it was possible this is a much bigger issue and that they would have to find the source of the problem, which could take an unspecified amount of time.
Crews would return Friday after Thursday's fix didn't hold, the City said.
Part of the issue is that the city was tipped off to the issue earlier. Montanez said that likely thousands had been using the trail, but none of them reported the darkness to the city's 311 system prior to NBC10 raising the concern.
Stay tuned for when the lights will be back on regularly.
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