Too dark to Walk?

NORTHEAST HOUSTON– Residents along Bentley Street have complained for years about how dark their street is, and how unsafe this makes walking and driving.
Bentley is unusually busy, because it serves an elementary school, Scarborough Elementary, the Northeast Harris County community center, popular restaurants and businesses, a youth NFL center, a Metro bus line, and a transfer or pickup station for HISD students being bussed to distant schools.
Scarborough principal Susan Bargaleski said that even though many of her students are brought to school by car, nevertheless after school many are bussed by the Boys and Girls Club to the NFL Youth Education Center at Driver Park, and safe travel is a concern. Many children gather at a bus stop on Bentley, prior to and after transfer to distant schools.
In early morning, and evening, it is dark and pedestrians and motorists must use special care to avoid accidents. In the ten blocks between Little York and Hopper, for instance, there is only one street light, about 100 feet from Little York on the west side of Bentley. No other public lighting exists, not even at the two busy entrances to the Northeast Community Center and the Driver/NFL center.

The question of who would provide and pay for lighting is part of the problem, and one that vexes much of the unincorporated areas of the county, and some areas of the city.
Bentley is multijurisdictional, with the city and Precinct 2 of the County sharing responsibility, and therefore sometime not able or willing to provide services.
In general, sidewalks and street lighting are not provided by these two government entities, and therefore State Representative Kevin Bailey, a few years ago, helped pass legislation to form management districts to furnish and pay for some services, especially ones that dealt with public safety and health. New sidewalks and street lighting on Aldine Mail Route, and Airline, are a result of these district’s efforts.
However, a street like Bentley is on a lower priority list, as are many residential streets in the service areas. East Aldine Management District director of services Mike Ledbetter said that a street needs to be a busy commercial street to be considered by the district for a future lighting program. It is unclear whether Bentley qualifies, and since only a small part of the street is in the city, they also are not committed to improvements.
A long term mobility plan suggests that Bentley may become a major north-south road, connecting with JFK near Aldine-Mail Route. But before that happens, residents would like to see some improvement in the lighting and safety.