After one street light fell over onto Pretty River Parkway, it was revealed another was in danger of falling over and the rest will be there soon.
According to a staff report heading to the Development and Operations Standing Committee on Monday and to council on March 26, the street lights replacement is urgent. One has already been removed because an engineer flagged it as unsafe.
The street light - or decorative light standard as it is referred to in the staff report, collapsed earlier this year during a winter storm. It landed on the travelled portion of the roadway, but there were no injuries.
“Upon examination, the existing steel pole was found to be severely corroded at the bottom under the cast iron decorative base,” states the staff report.
Staff hired a structural engineer through C.C. Tatham and Associates to assess the condition of the remaining poles.
One was flagged and needed to be removed immediately.
The engineers visited the site on March 1 to review 26 light poles between Albert Street and Ronell Crescent.
“With the exception of the light pole flagged for removal, we believe the remaining poles are in satisfactory condition for the short term assuming they will be replaced as soon as possible (2-3 months),” states the engineer’s letter included in the staff report.
The engineer further recommended more durable options be considered for the replacement.
The existing poles are non-galvanized, powder-coated steel and were installed in 2003.
Town staff is recommending concrete poles from the Stresscrete Group in a similar style to the existing poles. The existing light units can be reused on the new structure.
The cost of each new pole will be $2,650 and town staff is recommending installing 23 poles. The total cost for the poles will be $60,950 plus installation and removal of the old poles. Staff is recommending using funds from the Capital Contingency Reserve as the purchase can be considered an emergency.
