A faulty underground wire is leaving Calgary residents living on a three-block stretch in Huntington Hills in the dark.
“At least three, four months,” says Wanda Ho Lem, who lives on one of the streets without any streetlights. “It’s terrible, pitch black all night.”
According to the City of Calgary’s website, there are about 20 streetlight outages in the area, all reported in May and June. The city says an underground wire is faulted and extensive civil work is being planned to rectify the situation.
But the longer it lasts, the more serious the problem becomes for anyone wanting to walk through the neighbourhood, especially as days get shorter.
“You maybe go out a little later, but I wouldn’t, there’s no way,” says Ho Lem. “It’s pitch black. There are no lights. The odd house light is on but other than that, there’s no light.”
Cheryl Bissel has lived in Huntington Hills for 23 years and prides herself on travelling everywhere by foot. Bissel says she walks up to 20 km every day, but lately she’s been scaling back due to safety concerns.
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“You can’t see across the street,” says Bissel. “I can see the edge of my house, but I can’t across the street unless they’ve got lights turned on.”
Bissel says it’s not just traffic concerns that need a shining light, but there is also wildlife like bobcats in the area that pose a safety risk to anyone traveling in the dark. While Ho Lem says she’s already caught people on her security camera vandalizing her garden.
“There’s nothing you can do except lock up,” says Ho Lem. “But it’s scary because it’s pitch black all around.”
The issue began after road work was done in the area in May. Bissel’s husband, Darrell Dirkson, says it’s not just the lights the couple is upset with. He says the street itself moves under his weight and the asphalt crumbles at his fingertips.
“It started with the sidewalks and then once they did the sidewalk, they started milling the road,” says Dirkson.
“It’s got cracks in it and once the water seeps through the cracks, it’s going to run down and start lifting up all the new asphalt.”
Bissel has called 311 nine times trying to get the lights repaired. She says she’s even tried going to the provincial level, reaching out to her MLA and the premier’s office for help but the streets are still dark.
In a statement to Global News, the City of Calgary says it is aware of the outages along Blackthorn Road, in the community of Thorncliff, and Huntwick Way N.E. in the community of Huntington Hills. The statement reads, “earlier this year concrete repair work was completed in these areas and faults were found in the underground electrical infrastructure.
“Due to the complexity of these repairs and our planned upgrade of the infrastructure to help prevent future outages, timelines have extended beyond our typical service standards.”
The city says lighting should be restored in Thorncliff by the end of September and in Huntington Hills by mid-October.
Bissel, however, says she doesn’t have very much faith a switch will be flipped on the work any time soon.
“I’ll believe when I see the work done,” says Bissel.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
