Reacting to an article in the last issue of the Laval News about non-functioning street lights on des Laurentides Blvd. at the overpass over Autoroute 440, a spokesperson for the City of Laval blames the failure on incompatibility with Hydro-Québec electrical equipment, while saying the city is working towards fixing the problem as quickly as possible.
Laval city councillor for Vimont Michel Poissant first reported the problem, while noting that the city is currently encouraging residents to report broken streetlights through an online web portal or through a smartphone app.
Ironically, part of the City of Laval’s promotion campaign includes outdoor advertising billboards, one of which stands on the edge of the des Laurentides Blvd. overpass, adding irony to the issue.
A spokesperson for the City of Laval said in an e-mailed response to questions from the Laval News that the city is doing its best to fix the problem.
“We are aware of the problem in that sector and we are actively working to fix everything,” said Anne-Marie Braconnier, adding that the city recently undertook a major program to furnish and install new LED street lighting.
“During the connection of these new lights, we ran into major a technical issue, this being an incompatibility with the existing Hydro-Québec network in this sector,” she continued.
“We are currently working in narrow collaboration with Hydro-Québec so that the situation gets fixed quickly, since we are aware of the importance of lighting in this very busy sector.”
When asked whether the city has set an approximate date when the lights will be operating, Braconnier added:
“The city’s goal is to reestablish as quickly as possible. We do not currently have a date set. As stated previously, this requires coordination with Hydro-Québec and we are actively working on it.”
