Lighting Up the Linear Park

Phase One of the First Avenue Linear Park is nearing completion, and our most recent installations will have you saying “let there be light!” Recently we added 70 solar-powered LED pedestrian lights on both sides of the trail along First Avenue. Sitting at 12-ft high, these architectural area lights illuminate the path from dusk to dawn, using an innovative “self-learning” controller. The lamp adapts to the surrounding environment and with solar reserves, provides lighting throughout the evening, even on long winter nights.

The lampposts are spaced approximately 50 feet apart with additional luminaires at bus shelters along the path. An important consideration in choosing the light fixture was the impact on the surrounding environment. These lights follow many of the International Dark Sky guidelines for reducing light pollution, including:

• Full cut-off shielding that directs light down on the path instead of up or to the side.
• The lamp emits a warm light at a color temperature of 3000 Kelvins that is better for human health and wildlife than blue light at a higher color temperature on the spectrum.
• The LED lamps are energy efficient and dimmable. The lights are set to reduce by 30% in the early morning hours and then increasing to 100% an hour before dawn.
• The lights feature high-performance lithium batteries charged by an integrated solar panel so no electricity is consumed from the grid.

This model fixture was used in the Demonstration Project and found to be a very efficient and reliable lighting source with a design that compliments the multimodal trail. We look forward to installing more of these impressive luminaires along the remaining Linear Park in coming phases.