Miles of freeways and roads have gone dark at night because copper thieves have ripped out the wires that bring them power.
The thieves sometimes steal just a few hundred feet of wire at a time, but that can darken up to a couple miles. The outages can last weeks or, in some cases, months.
Copper thieves hit freeways especially hard — up to three or four times a week when the problem peaked, said Doug Nintzel, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation.
"If you see a bank of lights out nowadays, you can make the assumption that copper thieves have struck," Nintzel said.
Thefts are now down to one or two a month, in part because ADOT has hidden some of the access boxes thieves have been prying open to reach the wiring. ADOT suspects some thieves stole copper from the same area more than once.
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"In a number of cases, the crooks have been waiting for us to make the repairs so they can try again," Nintzel said.
The thefts have cost ADOT close to $500,000 in the last year. The most costly fix was on a fiber-optic line that thieves inadvertently sliced while looking for wire near the interchange of loops 101 and 202 at the Mesa-Tempe border. ADOT has spent about $200,000 to fix the line, which has been out for about two months. The damaged line severed communication with numerous cameras that line Loop 202 and the electronic message boards that warn drivers of crashes, Amber Alerts and high pollution.
Four freeway sections have been hit especially hard: The Red Mountain Freeway leg of Loop 202 from Loop 101 to Country Club Drive, Loop 202 from Priest Drive to state Route 51, state Route 51 from Interstate 10 to Thomas Road and I-10 in the West Valley.
Drivers likely noticed darker freeways even where lights kept working, Nintzel said, because the repairs kept crews so busy that they were unable to do regular maintenance, including replacing burnt-out bulbs.
The thieves can work behind freeway noise walls and go unnoticed for hours. In other places, they'd have to work along busy streets or intersections. Some thefts would probably take an hour, said Richard Woodward, Mesa's streetlight-systems coordinator.
"I can't believe that this keeps happening and nobody sees it," Woodward said.
Thefts are up in the last few months in Mesa.
Mesa has logged 11 thefts this month, including neighborhoods and major streets, and even the busy intersection of Greenfield and Brown roads. Thieves did some of their most brazen work in Tempe, where copper losses total $200,000 to $300,000. A full mile of wire was stolen along Price Road. The Price frontage road has been a hot target because the access boxes are shrouded from public view by noise walls, said Alan Rady, the city's lighting systems coordinator. Up to two miles of Price can go dark when thieves take just a few hundred feet of wire.
Bike paths around Tempe Town Lake and parts of Canal Park also have gone dark from frequent thefts.
Tempe has replaced some copper wiring with aluminum, which Rady said thieves probably wouldn't take because it's much less valuable.
In Chandler, thieves have focused on lighting at parks and along trails. The city has spent $70,000 this year to replace wiring. Thefts increased so much about six weeks ago that the city paid electricians overtime to scout likely targets. An employee caught one person in the act in July, said Kris Kircher, a parks and grounds maintenance manager.
Thieves took 1.5 miles of wiring along the Paseo Trail. Of a five-mile lighted section, Kircher said it's been a year since the entire section has been lit — at least one section is always missing wire.
Trail users have complained because the trail is dark at a time of year they want to use it at night.
Scottsdale and Gilbert officials said thieves haven't hit their lighting systems, though police there have had problems with construction-site thefts.
Thieves have stayed away from one obvious target — the Metro light-rail system, which will include 20 miles of overhead wires.
The wiring isn't a good target because it's 16 feet in the air, Metro spokeswoman Marty McNeil said. Plus, the high voltage would likely electrocute any thieves.
"It wouldn't be like taking candy from a baby," McNeil said. "It would be like taking candy from a tiger."
Police and city workers expect copper thefts will drop substantially in September when a new state law puts greater scrutiny on people who sell scrap metals.
Recyclers will check the seller's ID and get a fingerprint. And sellers can't get cash on the spot; a check will be mailed to them. Lawmakers and police hope the law will discourage thieves and make them easier to catch.
"I can't believe that this keeps happening and nobody sees it."
Richard Woodward
Mesa's streetlight-systems coordinator
