NEW ORLEANS — You pull up to an intersection and the traffic lights are out. It’s a problem WWL Louisiana has reported on for years.
On Wednesday, the Inspector General’s Office released its own report on the city’s traffic lights, identifying staffing issues and record-keeping problems.
“The purpose of this report was to determine whether the city conducted traffic signal maintenance in an effective manner,” New Orleans Inspector General Edward Michel said.
Inspector General Edward Michel says a staffing shortage within the Department of Public Works is one of the problems.
In May, just two employees were maintaining the over 450 traffic signals across the city.
According to a 2019 survey cited in the report, that’s around 30 to 40 fewer than cities with a similar workload.
The day before the report was released, Director of Public Works Rick Hathaway told WWL Louisiana they’ve hired new contractors.
“Top priority is to begin the hiring process,” Department of Public Works Rick Hathaway said.
Hathaway also said they have plans to add staff next year.
“If we get what we ask for there will be quite a few positions we need to get filled,” Hathaway said.
Michel says poor record-keeping is another problem. Photos from the report show handwritten logs used to document pending repairs.
“They’re relying on hand-written records which are not very accurate or reliable,” Michel said.
As of February, there were over 2,000 pending service requests for malfunctioning traffic signals.
“As a result of that, there wasn’t a way for the public to find where the traffic issues were occurring, and you can see how that would be a problem,” Michel said.
The Department of Public Works declined an interview, but sent us a statement. A representative said quote, “As part of the Department of Public Works 2025 budget submittal, we have requested additional signal technicians and support staff. The Department of Public Works has purchased an asset management software. It is currently being uploaded with Department of Public Works Assets and will continue until the entire system is uploaded."
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.