How many bureaucrats does it take to change some lightbulbs? | SMH

There is no end in sight to a standoff between inner-city residents and the state government over the Erskineville Road footbridge as the push to install lights on the path Transport for NSW has declared unsafe hits an impasse more than two months after the temporary fix stopped working.

Residents embraced installation of solar lights on the 50-metre crossing over heavy rail tracks in December as Transport worked to ameliorate safety concerns of pedestrians who reported stumbling on the road while walking at night.

A senior Transport official conceded the flaws of the solar lights in written correspondence on July 22, acknowledging their performance was “dependent on the amount of sunlight received during the day”.

City of Sydney deputy lord mayor Jess Miller, a local resident who has also trumpeted the campaign for improved safety on the bridge, called the solar lights stoush “just another chapter in the ongoing saga”.

“I’m very confused and slightly concerned by what appears to be [the] bridge lighting saga,” Miller said. “It really does raise the question – how many bureaucrats does it take to change some lightbulbs?”