Roadway lighting

[Just the facts]

Personally, I don't see the need for roadway lighting much. But can you consider an area "walkable" if you kill roadway lighting?

No, for a street to be walkable it needs to have lights, maybe not so much on the road itself but definitely the sidewalks. The style of lamp matters also. 40' tall metal poles won't cut it.

Here is a good read on the subject.

DCmud - The Urban Real Estate Digest of Washington DC: A Modest Icon Returns to D.C., The Washington Globe Streetlight

[Anonymous.]

UCO's campus utilizes LED lighting for campus walkpaths and some parking lots. It does a great job and has minimal pollution.

[Urbanized]

Highways in cities need lighting because there are other lights all around. Your eyes adjust to the ambient light, which makes it harder for your headlights to be effective in picking out details on the roadway. This makes for very unsafe situations in some circumstances. In rural areas, there is less light around, so your eyes are adjusted for darkness. Therefore the light from your headlamps is sufficient. It's science.

I will agree wholeheartedly about how important it is for lighting to be put onto the surfaces requiring it, and as little as possible elsewhere. The best case in point is the lighting on Broadway (Automobile Alley) vs. the lighting in Film Row. Although relatively new, the AA lighting is actually very poor. The retro fixtures are nice to look at during the day, and the kelvin rating (basically the color - whitish metal halide in AA instead of yellowish sodium you see elsewhere in town) is pleasing, but that is where it stops. The AA lights shine straight out in all directions, putting light right into your retina and making it hard to see the buildings, people walking on streets etc.

Film Row, on the other hand, has lights consistent with Project 180. When you drive down that street you instead see streets and sidewalks, and almost zero glare. It is simple to pick out pedestrians, other cars, and to see the buildings themselves. Try it sometime.

We don't pay nearly enough attention to good lighting in this town. We could do a lot more and a lot better with a lot less. I would love to see critical pathways in the city have light audits.

[Plutonic Panda]

Highways in cities need lighting because there are other lights all around. Your eyes adjust to the ambient light, which makes it harder for your headlights to be effective in picking out details on the roadway. This makes for very unsafe situations in some circumstances. In rural areas, there is less light around, so your eyes are adjusted for darkness. Therefore the light from your headlamps is sufficient. It's science.

I will agree wholeheartedly about how important it is for lighting to be put onto the surfaces requiring it, and as little as possible elsewhere. The best case in point is the lighting on Broadway (Automobile Alley) vs. the lighting in Film Row. Although relatively new, the AA lighting is actually very poor. The retro fixtures are nice to look at during the day, and the kelvin rating (basically the color - whitish metal halide in AA instead of yellowish sodium you see elsewhere in town) is pleasing, but that is where it stops. The AA lights shine straight out in all directions, putting light right into your retina and making it hard to see the buildings, people walking on streets etc.

Film Row, on the other hand, has lights consistent with Project 180. When you drive down that street you instead see streets and sidewalks, and almost zero glare. It is simple to pick out pedestrians, other cars, and to see the buildings themselves. Try it sometime.

We don't pay nearly enough attention to good lighting in this town. We could do a lot more and a lot better with a lot less. I would love to see critical pathways in the city have light audits.

+1