JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Neighbors are raising safety concerns over the lack of light on the Wonderwood Bridge, where the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says more than $120,000 worth of copper wiring has been stolen.
As neighbors adjust to daylight savings, more than a dozen lights are out at the end of the bridge, where it should be well lit.
“It’s pretty scary, you know, I drive there with my kids every day,” said Megan McGowan, who has lived a block away from the Wonderwood Bridge for four years.
She says it’s been dark for as long as she can remember.
“You don’t see anything, especially when you’re at the very top of the bridge. You can see other cars maybe coming up, but you just see their lights,” McGowan said.
Action News Jax saw boxes on both sides of the bridge left open and exposed because people are stealing the wiring inside. The missing copper, aluminum and wiring leaves the lights broken.
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Residents like John Sternad worry about people walking. He says it’s been like this on and off for years.
“I won’t walk that bridge unless I’m armed,” Sternad said. “I don’t want anybody jumping out and trying to rob me or possibly kill me.”
A police report from April names the City of Jacksonville as the victim of a grand theft of more than $100,000. The report lays out multiple incidents, once in 2024 and again in January of this year.
“It’s pretty ridiculous,” McGowan said.
Action News Jax started asking questions to see if the issue is any closer to being resolved. JEA said it didn’t know if the lights were on and told Action News Jax to reach out to the city.
The City of Jacksonville says it is still looking into it and referred us to the Florida Department of Transportation.
FDOT says it has replaced wiring over the years.
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They sent us this statement about the bridge and it’s lighting issues:
“Copper wire theft continues to be an ongoing challenge on the Wonderwood Bridge. The bridge has experienced repeated theft since 2024, requiring crews to repeatedly respond to and repair damaged lighting infrastructure.
“When a lighting outage occurs, FDOT maintenance crews investigate the cause. When evidence of theft or attempted theft is identified, FDOT reports the incident to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
“In 2025, FDOT worked with the local municipality to replace much of the copper wiring serving the bridge lighting with aluminum wiring, which has significantly less scrap value and was intended to deter future theft. Despite those efforts, individuals have continued attempting to access the electrical infrastructure. As recently as September 8, the utility provider identified damage on the Wonderwood Bridge associated with an attempted theft.
“These incidents are extremely dangerous due to high voltage lines involved and can cause significant damage even when no wire is successfully stolen. Individuals attempting to steal copper cannot necessarily determine what type of wiring is present until they have already accessed and damaged the electrical system.
“FDOT has implemented additional deterrents, including labeling electrical pull boxes to identify the wiring as aluminum, enhancing locking mechanisms, installing surveillance cameras at specific locations and pursuing measures to make electrical boxes more difficult to access.
“FDOT will continue working with its partners to repair damage, and maintain the infrastructure. However, repairs alone cannot prevent someone from intentionally damaging electrical infrastructure. Continued attempted theft and vandalism can result in recurring outages even after repairs have been completed.”
Residents say they’re being left in the dark, especially ahead of the end of daylight saving time on Saturday.
“I think everyone here around here just wants the lights back on so that we can see when we drive over the big bridge,” McGowan said.
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