Residents of Vancouver's Yaletown neighbourhood are questioning a slow response from the city to what they felt was a dangerous situation.

Exposed wires were left unattended in the area of Davie Street and Pacific Boulevard for weeks, and calls to city hall were apparently ignored.

"It makes me nervous that one of those kids could twist off the connectors and get hurt," professional engineer Erik Wiik told CTV News.

Wiik noticed the wires and sent a complaint to the city, along with photos, on Jan. 11. Two weeks later, when nothing had changed, he called 311.

"The operator said that somebody had come down and took a look and it was fine," Wiik said.

"It made me really upset, because it's not fine."

Wiik said it's not safe to leave the wires exposed, especially in an area where children and pets are common.

He took some readings and confirmed that some of the wires were live, and sent photos to city council this time. More than three weeks after spotting the problem, it was media attention that jolted the city into action.

The city said that the exposed wiring was partly the work of vandals, and assured CTV News that its crews are using new installation methods so no wires are left exposed.

Vancouver's chief engineer said staff would be conducting a review of its maintenance standards to identify areas where improvements could be made.

"Safety is a key priority," Jerry Dobrovolny said.

Wiik said the real question is why it took so long to fix.

He said as an engineer, he couldn't just walk by a dangerous situation. He wonders how many other unsafe sites may be left around the city.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Mi-Jung Lee