An experiment to test whether a $330,000 downtown lighting project would curtail loitering and increase public safety won the approval of the Columbia Water and Light Advisory Board last week.
The Downtown Community Improvement District has proposed 100 new lights that would use smart lighting technology to increase brightness during bar-closing times and enhance lighting on sidewalks and alleys in areas with a lot of bars.
Ryan Williams, the Water and Light Department’s assistant utilities director, has jokingly referred to the plan as the “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here” project.
The project, which would be a partnership between the city and the Downtown Community Improvement District, was originally proposed to the advisory board in early October. The board declined to approve the project then, asking Williams and Community Improvement District Executive Director Katie Essing to come back and provide several key details.
The board was seeking information on the number and the price of the lights. Essing and Williams presented those Wednesday. The budget for the project consists of $300,000 from Water and Light and $30,000 from the downtown district. The new Cooper Navion Luminaire lighting fixtures cost about $2,800 for street lights and $4,500 for lights that illuminate both streets and sidewalks.
In the end, the advisory board voted after a 2 1/2-hour discussion unanimously approved a test project in which six lights would be installed along Broadway between Hitt and Waugh streets.
The board asked for a bidding process to get the best possible price.
Williams said he expects the City Council will vote on the test project in early January.
Board Chairman John Conway said Essing and Williams gave an impressive presentation. Water and Light Communications Specialist Lucia Bourgeois said a lieutenant from the Columbia Police Department’s downtown unit spoke during the presentation and explained the importance of lighting to efforts to reduce crime.
The larger project would include new energy efficient light fixtures, a dimming schedule designed to increase downtown lighting during bar closing hours and the replacement of poles with peeling paint downtown. Essing and Williams’ presentation addressed the need for better safety downtown, citing specific crime locations and time periods.
“A historic preservationist also presented on the different pole and fixture options in order to preserve the appearance and repair poles that have not been repainted since the early 2000s,” Bourgeois said.