Mayor Sarno states, “I want to commend DPW Director Chris Cignoli and his dedicated team for their continued efforts in making our public roadways safe for both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This conversion and retrofitting of our street lights to LED’s is a public safety and quality of life issue and I want to thank Eversource for responding. My administration has been committed to enhancing our public roadways by reviewing all project options not just for vehicle traffic but for pedestrian and bicycle use too. Our goal is to provide for an efficient, effective, and safe means for all traffic to safely travel. These new LED street lights will greatly enhance our public roadways for residents and businesses in our neighborhoods. Furthermore, this initiative supports my administrations previous efforts of enhancing over 140 pedestrian LED lighting along Main and State Street, and improving the aesthetic lighting of our historic and commercial areas in our downtown.”
Christopher Cignoli, P.E., DPW Directors says that, “this coordination and negotiation with Eversource has taken a number of years and we are pleased to be able to provide our citizens with better street lighting as well as turning to “green energy” alternatives. Over the next few months, the city, DPW and Eversource will develop a general schedule of the retrofitting process and also determine geographically how the process will be initiated throughout the city.”
“We’re committed to working closely with the city to address public safety issues like streetlights, and this retrofit program is an important step forward in those efforts,” said Eversource Community Specialist Joseph Mitchell. “We’re glad that in partnership with the City we can provide safer, better lights for our customers as well as deliver an energy-saving solution that’s good for our citizens and helps the environment.”
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In 2016, the city began working with Eversource on the installation of enhanced pedestrian lighting in the downtown area, first starting with the installation of over 30 lights on Main Street from the Arch Street to State Street, and again in 2018 installing over 60 lights on Main Street from State Street to Central Street, and on State Street from East Columbus Avenue to School Street.
In May, 2022, the city of Springfield announced the third phase for the installation of enhanced LED pedestrian lighting in the South End with over 50 lights that will be installed on Main Street from Central Street to East Columbus Avenue, on Locust Street from Main Street to Mill Street, and on Mill Street from Locust Street to East Columbus Avenue. The lights are attached to the existing streetlight poles and are focused specifically on the sidewalks to provide better lighting for pedestrians.
In addition, Mayor Sarno, Congressman Richard E. Neal, Chief Development Officer (CDO) Tim Sheehan, DPW Director Chris Cignoli, and the Springfield Business Improvement District have been working to enhance up-lighting at specific buildings in our downtown area to highlight their historic architecture, increase aesthetic lighting, and enhance the quality of life and public safety. These locations include the up-lighting installed in front of the Springfield Central Library, and the decorative lights that were installed above Worthington and Main Streets that illuminate our dining district and the area by MGM Springfield respectively.