About 25 East Palo Alto streets will have improved safety after the East Palo Alto City Council voted to approve a new LED streetlight contract on Tuesday, July 28.
The streetlight upgrades come after numerous residents requested additional lights throughout the city, according to a city manager’s report. The council approved plans for the lights on April 7 and authorized staff to open the project to bidding.
Staff reduced the number of new lights from 72 locations down to 25 due to budget constraints. (See a map of the locations here.) The city has about 900 street lights currently.
Net Electric, Inc. came in with the lowest bid at $29,800 — a bargain, since a bid analysis for the project pegged costs at $43,750. The council allocated $32,800, including $3,000 for construction contingency, from the city’s Lighting District fund for construction.
The prioritized list is based on the locations’ proximity to existing streetlights “in order to maintain a uniform level of illumination” and reduce costs. The project aligns with the city’s goals of enhancing public safety and emergency responsiveness, improving public facilities and creating a healthy and safe community, according to the April 7 staff report.
The item was approved unanimously as part of the council’s consent calendar.
Locations for the new lights are West Bayshore Road at Newell Road, 300 Bell St., 8 Kirkwood Court, 211 Daphne Way, 720 Camphor Way, 939 E. Bayshore Road, Laurel Avenue, 432 Larkspur Drive, 2243 Terraville, 2573 Baylor St., 215 Donohoe St., 211 Holland St., 992 Runnymede St., 123 Grace Ave., 103 Daphne Way, 103 Verbena Drive, 429 and 311 Wisteria Drive, 371 Azalia Drive, 1151 Sage St., 2521 Annapolis St., 2507 Baylor St., 66 Buchanan Court, 2441 Gonzaga St. and 1771 Tulane Ave.
I grew up partially in East Palo Alto. ( Why I was living there is part of the shameful past of Palo Alto creation, something that PAO prefers not to talk about ). We USED to have street lights on Garden Street, right where those Tesla Engineers crashed.
When some were installed, they quickly got shot out. It was not practical to keep replacing fixtures. The PAO knows why.
I hope these lights will last longer than the ones I saw as a young boy.
Why is Palo Alto paying for street lights in East Palo Alto?? They have their own taxpayers. The city is already milking us dry with the crazy new programs they continue to hatch and approve.
To Jerry99: Where did you get that idea? Nowhere in the article does it state that Palo Alto is paying for this.
More street lights are a great idea in East Palo Alto. EPA needs a variety of infrastructure improvements, and hopefully with increased housing prices and new development, the tax base will be raised.
In addition to lights, EPA could really use more physical infrastructure:
1) More sidewalks. Lots of places do not have sidewalks, and kids are walking to school in the side of the road.
2) Garbage cans – severely lacking in EPA, lots of litter near bus stations, schools, Baylands Park entrances etc
3) Parks! EPA has very few parks compared to surrounding areas, and now that schools are locking off their playgrounds, even more needed.
4) Better roads! The street I live on, Runnymede, is deeply pitted and rutted. You literally can’t ride a bicycle on half of it due to the road’s poor condition.