Southwest Freeway’s Light-Up Bridges Shine On Despite a Fierce Legal Fight: Charitable Contributions Keep the Colorful Bridges’ Electricity On (For Now)

The bridges of Southwest Freeway are lit up again at night after more than a week of darkness. A legal dispute shut off the colorful, already iconic bridge lights, but charitable contributions from everyday Houstonians will keep them back on for now.

Due to a temporary restraining order that’s the result of a legal dispute between the Montrose Management District and the small local Montrose businesses it is supposed to serve, the District has been unable to collect money and was unable to pay Reliant for the last three months for the electricity to light up the bridges. The energy company pulled the plug on the lights on January 19.

The good news? There should be enough funds to keep the lights shining strong for the next six months, Montrose Management District executive director Ben Brewer tells PaperCity.

Houstonians weren’t letting the lights go without a fight. The programmable LEDs have quickly become a Houston hallmark even though they were only introduced last February. The lights have been used to celebrate special occasions — from Houston hosting the Super Bowl to the Astros winning the World Series — and to just brighten up the day of those stuck in U.S. 59 traffic.

Many couldn’t imagine them being gone.

Mayor Sylvester Turner went as far as tweeting that he would foot the electricity bill from his “own campaign account until we can find a permanent solution.”

It has not come to that — charitable contributions are allowing the freeway to be illuminated once again. Individual residents and business owners began calling the Montrose Management District offering to contribute, Brewer says.

The Montrose Management District worked with the Montrose Boulevard Conservancy to establish a formal charity to accept donations. The set up a special fund , called The Bridge Light Fund.

“It would be a good place for contributions to land, so contributions could be tax-deductible,” Brewer says.

The funds that the Montrose Management District has accrued should keep the lights shining for half a year.

“I think we’re probably going to easily have a six-month cushion, maybe longer,” Brewer says. “I don’t think come six months the lights are going to turn off. There is a lot of community support to keep them on. We want to thank the Mayor’s Office and Reliant Energy for helping support us through this.”

Local nonprofits have long approached the Montrose Management District with requests to set the lights to their causes’ colors. The district has received more than 80 requests such as pink for Breast Cancer awareness and orange for the Food Bank.

“It’s a great way for the community to be involved, and the lights have become iconic from that perspective,” Brewer says.

There are some who wonder why the Montrose Management District was spending its money on the lights in the first place, arguing the city should pay for lights that benefit Southwest Freeway travelers rather than local Montrose businesses who often operate at slim margins.

The Dispute Behind the Shutoff

The Montrose Management District has been embroiled in a dispute with local small businesses and some Montrose residents for six years now. The Montrose Management District professes to provides services such as graffiti abatement, trash pickup, esplanade maintenance, safety patrols by off-duty Houston Police Department Officers, and more with the money it collects from local businesses.

In mid-November these services were reduced, according to the Montrose Management District. By December 11, they were stopped completely due to unpaid assessments by some Montrose area commercial property owners.

Business owners assert that the Montrose Management District has illegally taken their money and is wasting it, failing to increase security, beautify the neighborhood, and more.

Recently, the judge involved in the case ruled that the district collected more than $6.5 million unlawfully, and that those funds were paid under duress. The judge instructed the district to pay back the money and cease collecting any more assessments.

The Montrose Management District is appealing the ruling.

More than 1,000 residents also signed a petition to dissolve the Montrose Management District once and for all. Judge Daryl Moore is expected to make a ruling on the petition’s legitimacy on Tuesday.

While all this goes on, the lights are still on. For now.