The village of Troolan in Tilburg has been without light for two weeks. Despite the fact that a large number of complaints have been submitted to the municipality, it will also remain dark on the main road this weekend. Residents are tired and have set up their own lamps to make the street safer.
The lanterns were extinguished for almost several days the length of Troolan and a number of adjacent streets. The first reports go back nearly three weeks. In Fixi, an app for notifications about outdoor space, there are complaints from locals that nothing is burning and that it is “dark” on the street. Complaints about Trolan also come from nearby streets.
“I bought 24 LED lights and attached them with masking tape around the lanterns.”
Ton van de Ven lives in Troulan and gets tired on Fridays. “I went to Lampengrossier myself, bought 24 LED bulbs and glued them around the lampposts.” However, these lights will likely be empty within a couple of days because they are constantly on and powered by batteries.
Trouwlaan is a road used primarily by many cyclists who drive from central Tilburg to Stappegoor. “It’s a really busy street. I’m not someone who is quick to complain or ask for publicity, but I don’t understand why it should take so long.”
“Waiting two weeks for a fix is really not possible.”
The municipality informed Tun that complaints will be dealt with within a maximum of five working days, but that the problems are in fact related to the network operator. “But if the network operator Enexis also gets five days, you’ll have two more weeks. All that time no lights and waiting for repairs is really impossible!”
Some Troolan residents also fear that thieves will be unleashed because the lights are not working. “The municipality has told these people they should call the police, but why? They can’t do that,” says Tun.
“She is waiting for accidents.”
He is especially afraid of accidents on the dark street. “Cyclists don’t light up often, cars don’t always go well here either. They just wait for accidents.” Plus, according to Ton, sidewalk isn’t organized everywhere. “If you’re about to travel in broad daylight, you can see how old people like my 77-year-old mother sway when they walk the dog in complete darkness.”
As far as Toon is concerned, the municipality must act as quickly as possible. “I’ll go to The Action later to get some lamps until you at least see something. In the meantime, a number of lamps have also been stolen.” Tilburg municipality has been unable to respond substantially to broken streetlights on Saturday night and says it will return to it on Monday.
