In his first State of the State speech Monday night, Gov. Pat McCrory mentioned both an early accomplishment and a new mission for his transportation secretary, Tony Tata (see speech video).

He credited Tata with moving quickly to address the double billing of hundreds of drivers on the Triangle Expressway, and he asked Tata to improve highway lights in North Carolina:

(2/22/13 update: I'm reporting on the highway lights issue TODAY. Are you concerned about darkness on Triangle area highways? I'd like to speak with you. Pls call me 919-829-4527 or email me (bruce.siceloff@newsobserver.com) with your phone number.) ... [MORE]

I'm reminded lately by news stories and by e-mail from readers that major highways around Raleigh -- including I-40, the Beltline, the 540 Outer Loop -- are disturbingly dark at night.

If you could rank cities by an index of streetlights per freeway mile, I bet you'd find Raleigh down near the dark bottom of the list.

And some of our Triangle neighbors, too. Drive I-40 from Raleigh to Chapel Hill at night, and you'll find only two islands of illumination around the interchanges at Fayetteville Road and N.C. 55.

It will be interesting to find out whether the absence of street lights on the Beltline contributed to the death Nov. 27 of Lee Eames, who fell from the bridge over Crabtree Creek after he stopped to help victims of an accident.

Good lights -- like those installed on I-85 in Durham when it was rebuilt a couple of years ago -- might have made it easier for oncoming drivers to see the wrecked cars, and to avoid swerving in Eames' direction. ... [MORE]

Ned Kennington has no objection to "reasonable levels of street lights."

But the Watts Hospital-Hillandale resident says the new lights installed in his neighborhood are too bright and too close together.

The light pollution is affecting the quality of life in his neighborhood, and Kennington also says it's a waste of energy.

What's worse, he argues, is the lights are being installed city-wide for no good reason. He cited studies that show streetlights don't help reduce crime.

The city should not just go around installing streetlights willy nilly," he said today. "The city ought to be rational and should not be installing street lights without the consent of neighbors."