City Park Lighting

[Watcher]

Walking home through City Park mid summer around 9 p.m. was a joy. It was twilight, quiet and beautiful. But now, with darkness falling so much earlier, it's kind of scary. Despite a street lamp at either side, of the park the lighting is really poor in the middle. It's dark there. I'm no longer taking the short cut through the park, and I'm wondering what that's going to do to my walk home mid-winter, when it's really cold and I need to get home fast. No doubt, others would feel safer as well and would appreciate more lighting. Would the Parks Dept. consider adding a street light in the middle of the park?

[Needsfixing]

http://kingstonelectors.ca/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif Thanks for your submission, Watcher. The Needs Fixing 'staff' (volunteer) spent some time onsite (but only in the daytime) to try to assess this concern. Our response will not be wholly satisfying but might lead you to suggest some new solutions.

First; large parks are, by definition, unsafe at night, sometimes even during the day. Second, the summer is the darkest time due to the full leaf coverage - winter, with the bare trees and reflected light from the snow will be much brighter. Thirdly, light pollution is a growing problem in urban areas and municipalities are starting to regulate lighting for public and private sector situations to reduce this pollution. Fourthly, lighting makes parks safe-ER, but not 100% safe.

In looking at all the pedestrian routes in City Park (between Bagot and King), they all appear to have quite good lighting - provided that all the lights are in good working order. The perimeter roads for vehicles don't have as much lighting.
Here at Needs Fixing we do not know what the 'best practice' standard is for park lighting but will make some attempt to find out and compare with what we have. When we have some new information, we will post it.

[Needsfixing]

http://kingstonelectors.ca/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif Thanks for your submission Watcher.

The Needs Fixing 'staff' (volunteer) has spent some time in City Park having a look at the situation you described. Please note that this scouting job was during the day rather than at night.

Some points: large parks are, by definition, much less safe than narrow or small parks. Steps can be taken to make parks safe-ER, but never 100% safe. Park lighting is least effective during the summer with trees fully leafed out; the leafless tree in winter and light reflecting snow cover have quite an effect on park lighting. Finally, light pollution is becoming a growing issue in urban centres with many municipalities now regulating the amount and type of lighting that can be installed on public and private property.

Having viewed the lighting situation in City Park there appears to be quite a bit of light on the pedestrian walkways, much less on the gravel vehicle road. Given your concerns, it is critical that all the lights are working - are you aware that any lights are not in working order? If so, please report these to dwells@cityofkingston.ca

We do not know what the 'best practice' standard is for park lighting but will attempt to find out, and compare it with what is in the park. We will post this information once we get it.

[Needsfixing]

We are still looking for the perfect, or even a good, definition of park lighting. We have spent a bit of time on the internet, largely on US sites because they provide a lot more information than Canadian sites. The issues are the same however: safety, sky glow, light trespass, cost. etc

What is clear is that many municipalities in the US have developed comprehensive regulations due to concern about sky glow and light trespass. Regulations cover such aspects as lighting intensity, height of light standards, caps on lights to reduce skyglow. All very interesting but did not provide answers to the question: what are the best practices? So ... we are still looking.

In the meantime, now that the leaves are being stripped off the trees, has the level of lighting improved? Keep us posted with your observations, and thanks for bringing this to our attention.