Are the New Downtown Lights for Safety or Curb Appeal?

On March 29 we ran "Let There Be Street Lights," featuring an update on the new traffic/street light installation, part of the downtown improvement plan.

That story has generated some discussion here, prompted by a question posed by Bev, a reader who wanted to know if the lights were for safety or "curb appeal."

We asked Mayor Donnalee Lozeau:

First the mayor explained what exactly a "mast arm" is - it's the horizontal fixture that holds a traffic light across the roadway, in this case, Main Street.

A dozen new mast arm traffic lights are in the process of being placed between Water Street and West Hollis streets.

"Replacing the mast arms downtown, primarily, began when it was determined there were structural issues. The existing mast arms are 30 years old. At the same time, we hope they will also be aesthetically pleasing – the old ones were unattractive, although they were in the style of the time when they were installed," Lozeau said.

In addition to traffic lights, there will be 47 new street lights downtown, Lozeau said, featuring two lights – one to illuminate the sidewalk and the other to illuminate the street – which includes the six historic lights already installed in the bridge area.

The old light poles did not provide sidewalk lighting and did not illuminate the street efficiently.

"Also, the height is lowered significantly from the existing 'double-headed green cobras', which are 30-33 feet high," Lozeau said. "The new ones are 15-25 feet, and they're also LED, which makes them more efficient for the city."

The LED lights will be lower maintenance and cost a third of what the current street lights cost to run, Lozeau said, significant cost cut to the citywide $73,000 bill to light up the city.

As for the timetable for installation – and for the downtown sidewalk improvement project – Lozeau said contrary to what some critics have said, the city does have a plan.

But it's a time-line that is dependent on two major things, Lozeau said – one is the weather, and the other is what is found underneath the existing sidewalks as the project moves down Main Street, Lozeau said.

She is referring to a series of undocumented underground vaults discovered during phase one of the sidewalk project, cavernous spaces – some dating back to the 1800s and 1900s – many of which were previously unknown to exist.

An outside firm has been hired to evaluate the underground structures.

"If block two construction goes well then we'll hopefully get started on block three during this construction season," Lozeau said. "And of course, if the weather cooperates. I can plan for most anything, but I can't control the weather."