I-TEAM: Lights out at Monroe intersection for weeks, back on after crash

28/11/2023

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Traffic lights at the Monroe Street intersection connecting Barnes & Noble to the Franklin Park Mall have been off for weeks. They were turned back on the day after a car crash.

“If my car had been turned a little bit differently, I might not be here today,” Barbara Merzke, who was driving one of the vehicles involved in the crash, said.

She and the other driver walked away with minor injuries, according to an accident report by the Toledo Police Department.

“The airbag had cut a spot on my nose, and then it — across here,” Merzke said, gesturing to her right cheek.

She says the accident was her fault.

“There was a vehicle on my left, so I couldn’t have a clear view. So, I inched out, and evidently, I went out too far and, I hit another person driving down the road,” Merzke said. “She went off to the other side of the road, and I spun around and hit a steel pole.”

13 Action News first reported that the lights were out on November 7th.

At that time, the City of Toledo said the lights belonged to the owners of the Franklin Park Mall and Barnes & Noble, adding that the lights were shut off due to a missing electric meter.

A Toledo Edison representative said the meter is owned by the customer, so they were waiting for Barnes & Noble to initiate the repair.

The lights were out for weeks, but the day after the cars, they were back on.

“I’m very thankful for that.

I wish it would have been last week. I wish the mall, or whoever’s responsible, would have done something much sooner than this. It took this accident to make them work,” Merzke said.

13 Action News reached out to Barnes & Noble to get their side of the story, but they didn’t respond.

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References

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