12 March 2013

Can too many street lights ever be enough?

| johnboy
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street lights

Pitchka has sent this gem in:

Taken from my work lunch room. To much light is never enough

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Actually it looks like the pole only has a hole 180deg from the front, so thats where the lights go. This may be a structural thing. Still, better than nothing

Jungle Jim said :

youami said :

Take a look at this pic taken today:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4540663/CameraZOOM-20130313123410595-lowres.jpg

I have taken the liberty to circle the lights and I have drawn a line in an approximate direction they are pointing and it doesn’t go anywhere. As you can see both a pointing away from the footpath and away from the Cycle loop and into trees.

Maybe they’re there to add extra illumination to the base of the pole for traffic safety.

Or maybe they are just stupid.

youami said :

Take a look at this pic taken today:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4540663/CameraZOOM-20130313123410595-lowres.jpg

I have taken the liberty to circle the lights and I have drawn a line in an approximate direction they are pointing and it doesn’t go anywhere. As you can see both a pointing away from the footpath and away from the Cycle loop and into trees.

Maybe they’re there to add extra illumination to the base of the pole for traffic safety.

Take a look at this pic taken today:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4540663/CameraZOOM-20130313123410595-lowres.jpg

I have taken the liberty to circle the lights and I have drawn a line in an approximate direction they are pointing and it doesn’t go anywhere. As you can see both a pointing away from the footpath and away from the Cycle loop and into trees.

JC said :

youami said :

TAMSMediaRoom said :

The existing street light (closest to the kerb) needs to be removed to make way for the Marcus Clarke Street section of the Civic Cycle Loop. The ‘old’ street light won’t be removed until the replacement light is switched on.

Well yes that’s obviously what is going to happen (although doesn’t explain why they needed replacing) but what about the second set of lights halfway up the new poles that appear to be facing the wrong direction for them to be of any use? These new lights I would have thought should be facing the direction of either the footpath or the new Civic Cycle loop but the way they have been installed will only light up dirt and trees.

They light up the area behind for pedestrians and in the picture the one across the road would light the path to the carpark. Good idea actually.

It might look like it would light up the path to the carpark but that is just the way the photo was taken. Trust me the light would never reach the footpath to the carpark, at least not very well; take a look at the shadow on the ground, that is approximately where the lights will shine, not at the path itself. I will take some better photos with perspective. And as I mentioned before there are about three other poles with lights to the left and right that have lights that point away from the footpath and there are no paths going up to the carpark. Trust me when I get some of these photos you will see what I mean. I guess at the end of the day a light is better than no light.

youami said :

Well yes that’s obviously what is going to happen (although doesn’t explain why they needed replacing) but what about the second set of lights halfway up the new poles that appear to be facing the wrong direction for them to be of any use? These new lights I would have thought should be facing the direction of either the footpath or the new Civic Cycle loop but the way they have been installed will only light up dirt and trees.

Which ones are you talking about? The one that appears to be coming out of the pole in the foreground is an optical illusion – its actually a light across the street. The one across the street with a light part way up obviously lights the path leading up to the parking lot. And the lights are not only to light up the cycle path but also the pedestrian path behind.

While the nice TAMS people are responding, any idea when the cycle path will be completed? Its a complete nightmare riding (or driving) down the street at the moment, I’m suprised people havent been taken out given that sight lines at corners (particularly heading lakeward) are all blocked.

Any chance of even opening those parts that have been completed (like between Allsop St and Uni Ave), or do we need to wait until a pollie officially opens the entire path all at the same time?

I though the part was due to be completed by Christmas. Given the three workers and one machine on the job today, its going to be well past Easter…I’m sure there is a message there somewhere

TAMSMediaRoom said :

The existing street light (closest to the kerb) needs to be removed to make way for the Marcus Clarke Street section of the Civic Cycle Loop. The ‘old’ street light won’t be removed until the replacement light is switched on.

Whoa…it’s always a surprise to have the voice of Big Brother (in the Orwellian sense of the word) come booming in to RA. The idea that the government might actually pay attention to the views of the people they notionally represent seems rather odd, although it obviously shouldn’t be.

youami said :

TAMSMediaRoom said :

The existing street light (closest to the kerb) needs to be removed to make way for the Marcus Clarke Street section of the Civic Cycle Loop. The ‘old’ street light won’t be removed until the replacement light is switched on.

Well yes that’s obviously what is going to happen (although doesn’t explain why they needed replacing) but what about the second set of lights halfway up the new poles that appear to be facing the wrong direction for them to be of any use? These new lights I would have thought should be facing the direction of either the footpath or the new Civic Cycle loop but the way they have been installed will only light up dirt and trees.

They light up the area behind for pedestrians and in the picture the one across the road would light the path to the carpark. Good idea actually.

TAMSMediaRoom said :

The existing street light (closest to the kerb) needs to be removed to make way for the Marcus Clarke Street section of the Civic Cycle Loop. The ‘old’ street light won’t be removed until the replacement light is switched on.

Well yes that’s obviously what is going to happen (although doesn’t explain why they needed replacing) but what about the second set of lights halfway up the new poles that appear to be facing the wrong direction for them to be of any use? These new lights I would have thought should be facing the direction of either the footpath or the new Civic Cycle loop but the way they have been installed will only light up dirt and trees.

TAMSMediaRoom5:58 pm 12 Mar 13

The existing street light (closest to the kerb) needs to be removed to make way for the Marcus Clarke Street section of the Civic Cycle Loop. The ‘old’ street light won’t be removed until the replacement light is switched on.

neanderthalsis3:25 pm 12 Mar 13

What you have snapped there is the opening sequence of the highly secretive mating ritual of the common ACTEW light post (Lightus Rareliworkus), never before recorded on film.

I have been meaning to take this same photo! Look at the new light poles (in particular the one across the road) and there is a second light halfway up the pole but it is pointing into the dirt away from the footpath. Any ideas (other than the contractors installed this light the wrong way around)? It is not a one-off either, there are other light poles both left and right to the one in the picture that are the same: the second light halfway up is facing dirt and trees.

More important question: are they both working?

I much prefer the traditional ACT style street lights over the new ones that are popping up. The different styles look inconsistent and untidy.

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