AN IMPORTANT TXWY SIGN HAS INOP LIGHTS.

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TAXI OUT FOR DEP. 'STANDARD TAXI RWY 21C.' WE RPTED TO GND CTL THAT TAXI SIGN OSCAR-4 WAS NOT ILLUMINATED. GND CTL RESPONDED 'THANK YOU; IT'S BEEN OUT FOR ABOUT A WK; AND WE HAVE RECEIVED MANY COMPLAINTS.' THIS IS A CRITICAL TAXI INTXN AT A VERY BAD ARPT FOR GND/TAXI OP. THIS ARPT HAS AN EMBARRASSING HISTORY OF DANGEROUS GND OPS! BODY COUNT! THIS SIGN SHOULD BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY! DTW GND OPS ARE STILL VERY CHALLENGING; ESPECIALLY DURING LOW VISIBILITY OR AT NIGHT (UNSAFE!). CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: SPOKE TO AN ATCT TWR CTLR. HE SAID THAT MANY LIGHTED SIGNS ARE INOP AND MANY SIGNS ARE MISSING. HE THOUGHT THE PROB WAS CAUSED BY OLD WIRING; LIGHTS AND WIRING HAVE BEEN ADDED HELTER- SKELTER AND THE ENTIRE SYS SEEMS TO BE OVERLOADED AND DETERIORATING FROM AGE. WAYNE COUNTY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ARPT AND SEEMS UNABLE AND/OR UNWILLING TO ASSIGN A HIGH PRIORITY TO THIS PROB. THE TWR IS BEGINNING TO ASK THAT CERTAIN PORTIONS OF THE ARPT BE CLOSED WHEN INADEQUATE SIGNS AND/OR LIGHTING ARE AVAILABLE. THEY HAVE NO GND RADAR TO HELP THEM CTL TFC. A MASTER PLAN WAS COMPLETED SEP-OCT/92 TO INSTALL THE NEW DESIGN TXWY SIGNS BUT NO NEW SIGNS YET. ALSO; AN ANTI-RWY INCURSION PLAN IS UNDER WAY. SO FAR; ONLY 3 OF 13 NEW SIGNS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED.