Public Lighting Authority Spending $51M to Spotlight Detroit’s City Streets
A long-term capital reinvestment plan by Detroit’s Public Lighting Authority board aims to illuminate the city’s streets. More than $51 million in investments over the next several years will provide Detroit with new streetlights.
Officials with the Detroit nonprofit say they’re working to replace wooden poles and upgrade lighting in high-traffic areas and neighborhoods while installing decorative, historic lighting fixtures in some communities.
The Public Lighting Authority aims to address aging lighting infrastructure that was merely adapted but never replaced during the initial lighting improvements made over a decade ago. The agency, which receives taxpayer funds and operates independently but in partnership with the city government, is focusing on the following planned projects:
- Creating a standardized level of lighting in high-traffic areas, estimated at $23.6 million
- Replacing more than 12,000 wooden light poles in residential areas, estimated at $11.8 million
- Replacing original LED lighting installs with higher output LED projects, estimated at $6.9 million
- Replacing thousands of decorative lighting fixtures in areas of Detroit, such as Vernor Highway in Southwest Detroit, Gardenview, and Woodbridge Estates, estimated at $6 million
- Addressing “gap projects,” locations that were not completed as part of the 2014 lighting infrastructure plan and 21 new sites identified for new development, estimated at $96,000
“Data such as traffic patterns, crime rates, and city initiatives are used to ensure alignment,” said Jan Anderson, the Authority’s director of capital plan projects, in an interview with The Detroit News. “This data-driven process helps distribute resources fairly and effectively.”
The $51.6 million upgrade is financed primarily through the Authority’s Strategic Reserve Fund. The City of Detroit is paying for approximately $23 million of the funds needed to perform work on the city’s major corridors through voter-approved bond issuances.
