"Our maintenance department has a tremendous backup," said Kevin O'Connor, deputy director of the department of transportation's infrastructure maintenance division. "It is six to eight weeks behind from the initial complaint to the resolution of the problem."

O'Connor said that this is the peak season for the department, and its workload has increased by 25 percent.

"We receive more than 10,000 streetlight complaints a year, but we only have five people assigned to changing bulbs and fixing electrical problems," he said.

The Coney Island lights, as the department refers to them, are decorative, pedestrian-style fixtures installed to enhance the aesthetics and ambience of the area. Lighting in other areas, such as schools, community centers and crosswalks, is considered a priority.

O'Connor expects that sometime toward the spring or summer, the department will be able to catch up and begin reducing the backlog of complaints.

Willow Glen resident Richard Tretten thinks the burned-out bulbs should have already been addressed.

"A year ago, 40 lights were out," Tretten said. "As of the beginning of the month, there are now 51 out of the 130 lights that are out. This means that the previous 40 never were replaced, and 11 more burned out on top of that."

Tretten has walked up and down Lincoln Avenue counting the light bulbs and contacted the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association, San Jose District 6 office and the city a year ago regarding the dead bulbs.

"These are persistent maintenance problems that have not been addressed by the city," said Marvin Bamburg, Willow Glen Business and Professional Association chairman on the avenue infrastructure committee. "We have been aware of it for some time, have contacted the city but have not received a definitive response to when this will be taken care of."

The committee made a walking inspection of Lincoln Avenue last fall and has a list of various items, including the lighting.

"It just looks lousy, like a string of Christmas lights that have burned out but are never replaced," Tretten said.

The department of transportation has asked the maintenance manager to get an estimated timeline for the replacement of the bulbs but is still waiting for an answer.

"Several years ago, we worked with the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association to retrofit the lights from imported German light bulbs to standard bulbs," O'Conner said. "We've invested a lot of time in those lights and know they are important to the community. We are just struggling with all the other demands in that area."