With the flip of a switch Tuesday evening, Pittsburgh officials changed the view on one block of the Manchester neighborhood.
At the end of a news conference on Pennsylvania Avenue, Mayor Ed Gainey called for the city’s new LED streetlights to be activated between Chateau and Fulton streets. The new bright lights were a visible contrast to the old high-pressure sodium fixtures in the next block, where not all of them came on at the same time and the view was spotty.
The news conference was the kickoff of the city’s $15 million program to replace more than 35,000 streetlights over the next two years. It follows a yearlong audit of all streetlights to determine their condition and whether more or fewer lights are needed in each area.
Gainey said the installations, which began at the beginning of May, will address the neediest neighborhoods first. In Manchester, 302 of the 360 lights already have been installed and residents can look at a map on the city’s website to see when the new lights will come their way.
Work will be done in the daytime by two-member crews with each changeover taking about 45 minutes. The city doesn’t expect any major traffic disruptions.
Flore Marion, assistant director of sustainability and resilience in the city Planning Department, said the new lights offer benefits in several areas. They provide better color sensitive light to make neighborhoods safer, use less energy to reduce the operating cost and cut pollution, and are expected to last 15 to 20 years compared to three to five years for the old lights.
The new fixtures will provide “the right light at the right place at the right time,” Marion said. They meet the city’s “dark sky lighting” ordinance by directing light toward the ground and only providing the level of light needed for safety.
Overall, the cost of the lights is about the same, but the city expects to save about $1 million a year in operating costs.
“You don’t realize it, but everybody is affected by streetlights,” said Mike Maloch, the city traffic engineer. “The project is about providing the quality of life everyone deserves.”
The city is paying for the project through $12 million in bonds and a $3 million federal grant.
Near the end of his remarks, Gainey invited 9-year-old Ethan Boxley, who had been watching the news conference from the stoop in front of his Pennsylvania Avenue home, to the podium to ask his thoughts about the streetlights.
“I’m proud about the lights,” the youngster said.
Correction: This story originally misspelled the last name of Flore Marion.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.