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Down street lights putting Westchase pedestrians and cars in danger

Posted at 11:20 PM, Oct 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-26 00:28:45-04

"The problem is right across the street there's a bank of seven lights over there that do not come on," said Bill Flood.

Flood has lived in Westchase for nearly 20 years.

"They keep the grounds up, they have play grounds for the children, all types of recreation," said Flood.

The area is filled with parks and trails where runners, cyclist, and just about everyone looking to enjoy the Florida weather frequent on a daily basis. But as the day fades to night, a glaring problem is beginning to worry neighbors.

"With the configuration of the road here, and it seems that the cars are going a lot faster now than the 30 mile per hour speed limit, it's just an accident waiting to happen," said Flood.

Along Countryway Blvd, cars whizz through a turn where lanes go from two down to one. Many times cars only realize the change in the final moments.

Flood says at least seven street lights have been down for the last 6 months and no matter how many calls he makes to TECO, nothing changes. He worries without proper lighting it could lead to a major accident.

"There's no reason when you call in a request to a utility company that they can't take care of it," said Flood.

He's also concerned for those who choose to run at night and may not be able to see what's lurking in the darkness.

We reached out to TECO who claims they only received one call six days ago stating only one light was out.

TECO says they'll have a crew check out the lights Tuesday night and fix the ones down by Wednesday.

Flood says that's all he's ever wanted.

"It's a beautiful community  and you would hate to see somebody get seriously hurt or even killed because of a problem that should be corrected," said Flood.