Minneapolis Street Design

[minneboom]

I just read this article about street lighting in MInneapolis, and I think that street design is an important topic, especially with all the streets that are getting reconstructed. Minneapolis does have a terrible mishmash of street lights throughout the city, and it would be nice to start developing a strategy to get some consistency along different type of roads. For example, major commercial corridors would have one or two types of lights, residential streets another, ect...

Image from Minneapolis Street Lighting Policy


Additionally, it would be great if the city would encourage and promote more stand alone projects help get all street lights switched to LED. There are many places where this lighting is outdated, and it would be great to encourage people and neighborhoods to take on these projects themselves.

Stand-alone Street Lighting Project
Residential areas that are not likely to have the street reconstructed in the near future (within 5 years) are
able to have street lighting installed by opt-in petition and paying an assessment for the cost of
installation. Opting-in to a lighting project will follow a two-phase petition effort. Phase 1 will be used
to document general support and shall equal or exceed 35% within a six month time period. If
successful, then the Phase 2 petition is conducted via a formal petition mailing sent out from the City of
Minneapolis. In order to move forward with a street lighting project, 70% of the affected owners have
to agree to support and fund the project using the Uniform Street Lighting Assessment. Other funds
may be used to buy down the assessments such as grant dollars or neighborhood funds. The minimum
project size to install street lighting is 4 contiguous blocks, both sides of the street, in Residential areas.

Original Article
http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis- ... 371070301/

[min-chi-cbus]

I say adopt the GE Lighting smart lighting technology, like they're doing in San Diego.....if they can manage the up-front investment:

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/tech/Sa ... 47791.html

[maxbaby]

At least Minneapolis has street lighting. Ever been to Woodbury? Even the main roads are dark.

[Wedgeguy]

At least Minneapolis has street lighting. Ever been to Woodbury? Even the main roads are dark.

Don't want to have lights shining in any windows or giving light to burglars. Like burglars don't have night vision googles for when they break into Woodbury homes at night for that very reason!! LOL

[mattaudio]

Curious what people know about the Xcel LED streetlight conversion.

One big opportunity I see is better lighting in alleys. Most alleys in my neighborhood have 6 Xcel poles per block, with tall lights on every other pole (alley intersection, then two lights mid-alley). With the LED conversion, I'd like to see lights on every pole, at a lower location. This would allow for dark-sky friendly fixtures, less glare into windows, and more security in the alley itself.

[seanrichardryan]

They're full cutoff sodium light is nice with zero window glare, which they'll install if it's requested, at least in St. Paul. Not sure how the LED cobras are shaping up, but it seems the city could lead that direction since they're the lessee.

[SurlyLHT]

Buildings around the city have been routinely hit by cars. What are the best practices for protecting them? (Besides removing lanes. One place this is happening is Penn Ave N where it was already redone for the C line).

I was thinking safety bollards with LED's would be a good solution and could also be installed at busy bus stops to protect riders.

Is there anything else that is recommended?