Councilman Jeff Russell is again pushing for the installation of safety lights under the North Main Street viaduct.

Temporary safety lights have been installed under the railroad overpass, and City Council members have designated federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to be used on permanent lighting. Bids for the permanent lighting haven’t been released yet, prompting Russell, R-At Large, to ask about the status of the project on Monday. It is the second time since March that Russell has brought up the issue at a City Council work session.

“I did not bring up during the (Public Safety Committee) meeting, I just thought about now,” Russell said. “We still haven’t done the safety lights underneath the viaduct up on North Main Street. We allocated ARPA funding for that, and it still hasn’t come to fruition and I’m just wondering if we can get that out to bid and get that project done.”

Crystal Surdyk, city development director, responded by saying she is working on getting the project out to bid.

Council members approved lights for the viaduct last June to be paid for with $45,712.50 in American Rescue Plan Act funding after discussion of spending $150,000 on colored lights as part of a bigger project to also install a public parklet under the viaduct.

Better lighting the area has been mentioned as a safety concern by council members and Jamestown Police Department officials while Surdyk said last year that improving public safety in the area was the top reason to pursue the public parklet idea that had been planned for the viaduct.

Councilman Joe Paterniti, R-Ward 4, said permanent safety lights won’t be the only safety enhancement to the area, referencing the pending construction of a Northwest Bank branch in Brooklyn Square. That project will have better lighting at the site of the former Chinese restaurant near the viaduct.

“At the Planning Commission meeting, with the new Northwest Bank going down there, they had discussed an opportunity to help light that area as well,” said Paterniti, who also serves on the Planning Commission. “That doesn’t necessarily mean in place of what the city is doing to put the lights in, but in conjunction with that.”