Center median vs. side street lights

[NJ]

Do you prefer having highway street lights on each side of the road or in center median barrier?

[busman_49]

I like them in the center median barrier. 

[UCFKnights]

Do you prefer having highway street lights on each side of the road or in center median barrier?

If there is sidewalks, sides of the road. If its a highway or no pedestrians allowed, median.

[Henry]

It doesn't matter, as long as the highway is adequately lit. For the uninformed, these examples from Atlanta will help illustrate it better.

Center median, conventional lights


Side, high-masts


Of course, it's the other way around, as these Baltimore examples show.

Center median, high-masts


Side, conventional lights

[NJ]

Atlanta has well maintained and excellent highway system. Love it!

Those side conventional lights are waste of extra aluminium pole because you'll save tons of money if you put the lights on center median like the first picture.

It doesn't matter, as long as the highway is adequately lit. For the uninformed, these examples from Atlanta will help illustrate it better.

Center median, conventional lights


Side, high-masts


Of course, it's the other way around, as these Baltimore examples show.

Center median, high-masts


Side, conventional lights

[ET21]

Center median

[roadfro]

General convention in Nevada, for new construction:

Conventional roads - street lights along side.
Freeways - high mast lighting in median (extra lighting on sides within interchange areas).

Atlanta has well maintained and excellent highway system. Love it!

Those side conventional lights are waste of extra aluminium pole because you'll save tons of money if you put the lights on center median like the first picture.

Lighting from the sides tends to better illuminate the entire roadway (lighting from both outside shoulders inward, with the light poles typically being staggered; compare to lighting from the middle outward at uniform spacing). Side lighting also better illuminates conflict points at the on/off ramps. So, from a safety perspective, the sides is better. For conventional roads, side lighting also better illuminates any adjacent sidewalks and pedestrians walking thereon.

Also, side lighting is easier for maintenance crews to replace, since there is typically a wider shoulder on the side as opposed to a narrow/absent left shoulder which may necessitate closure of the left lane.

[mariethefoxy]

I like the really really tall cluster lights. NYSDOT seems to be getting rid of them down here since on I-495 at Exit 49 (a cloverleaf) they had one in each quadrant, but one of em stopped working and they installed a set of regular lights around the ramp, and another one is missing and they didnt put anything else in its place.

[Rothman]

I like the really really tall cluster lights.

Hm.  Reminds me of the installations on I-91 just south of Holyoke Range (around exit for MA 141).

[NJ]

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.9217498,-74.073036,3a,75y,188.8h,81.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siocNYdVYDpj6DwxXOYIsVg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

High mast arms in NJ

[roadman65]

I used to like the center median lights on the Cross Bronx Expressway in NYC when they used to be be curved and had two small monotube mast arms.  I believe some parts of the five boroughs still use them, but over time NYCDOT just added whatever they had in their shop to replace those.

Also the Cross Bronx on the Third Avenue Viaduct had them moved to the outside some time ago.  I am guessing that viaduct was redecked and that is when they got moved over with brand new ones.


In addition the GSP over the Raritan River in NJ had center lights that were removed when the center median was filled in to create another 10 foot wide lane in the mid 80's.  I believe now they have the big tall poles with the fixture angled downward on top (I have to check my youtube video) with no arms, but for the time before the Driscoll Bridge twinning it was normal poles attached to the side of the bridge parapets.

I actually like those high poles with the lamp on top, not the high masts, but those I just described that a lot of states have begun to use.  Some find the need to have only on one side as those do illuminate the whole width of a six lane freeway and have seen them only on one side.

[hm insulators]

Los Angeles only lights the exits and entrances to the freeways; they don't light the entire freeway. Personally, as a native of L.A. I've always been content with it (it's what I'm used to) and have never been able to figure out why other cities (like Phoenix) have to light every inch of freeway. The money wasted could go toward freeway-widening projects or other infrastructure projects.

[jeffandnicole]

Atlanta has well maintained and excellent highway system. Love it!

Those side conventional lights are waste of extra aluminium pole because you'll save tons of money if you put the lights on center median like the first picture.

What are the prices of each?

If the lights are in the center median and need fixing, how wide is the median?  Does a lane need to be shut down?  Do two lanes need to be shut down?  When can you replace the lights, during the day or at night?   What kind of support does the light need?  A 20' light off the right shoulder needs a much smaller base than a center median light 60' tall, with protection barrier.

If departments could save a ton of money, they would be lining up to save a ton of money.  There's reasons why they do the things they do.  Sometimes it's not always about money either - it's about access and safety as well.

[NJ]

Atlanta has well maintained and excellent highway system. Love it!

Those side conventional lights are waste of extra aluminium pole because you'll save tons of money if you put the lights on center median like the first picture.

What are the prices of each?

If the lights are in the center median and need fixing, how wide is the median?  Does a lane need to be shut down?  Do two lanes need to be shut down?  When can you replace the lights, during the day or at night?   What kind of support does the light need?  A 20' light off the right shoulder needs a much smaller base than a center median light 60' tall, with protection barrier.

If departments could save a ton of money, they would be lining up to save a ton of money.  There's reasons why they do the things they do.  Sometimes it's not always about money either - it's about access and safety as well.

American engineers are not always the smartest. They need to shut down one or two lanes regardless where the street light is located. It's not like street lights gets replaced that often.

[shadyjay]

I like the center median lighting better.  It eliminates the "clutter" alongside the roadway and consolidates everything right in the median.  I-95 west of Branford is slowly being converted to the type of center median lighting shown here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1044589,-73.4288936,3a,75y,35.91h,93.08t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWaIpkQMEKtCPT-vZRpWePA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DWaIpkQMEKtCPT-vZRpWePA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D154.93823%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

The former (and still remaining in many sections) side lighting seemed awfully temporary.  I never realized how temporary, until I was surveying alongside I-95 and saw the conduits for side lighting just lying on top of the ground.  Most of the median is already set up for the center median lighting linked above, especially in Milford and parts of Fairfield.  But there's still some "grassy median" in East Norwalk, and some skinny jersey barriers in the Greenwich and West Haven areas. 

Most urban areas of CT tend to use center median lighting, especially where just a jersey barrier divides the two directions.  The widest interstate section in the state (10 g/p + 2 HOV) uses these lights:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7717587,-72.6003206,3a,34.5y,95.23h,94.39t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sYCWj_gqQGPVYBIExdzvbww!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DYCWj_gqQGPVYBIExdzvbww%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D160.51944%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656


VT has very limited interstate lighting, only appearing at select interchanges and primarily around Burlington. 

NH has a weird setup on I-95... two center median lights in a field of tall cluster lights.  Perhaps those two center median lights are left over from before the turnpike was widened in the 1970s.  Spin the image linked below around 180 deg and you'll see more cluster lights.  But for some reason, two center median lights remained in place:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0559719,-70.8069311,3a,35.1y,45.93h,85.84t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEK2p6LEGq_pQhYyU-fFuTw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[roadfro]

NH has a weird setup on I-95... two center median lights in a field of tall cluster lights.  Perhaps those two center median lights are left over from before the turnpike was widened in the 1970s.  Spin the image linked below around 180 deg and you'll see more cluster lights.  But for some reason, two center median lights remained in place:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0559719,-70.8069311,3a,35.1y,45.93h,85.84t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEK2p6LEGq_pQhYyU-fFuTw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This appears to be due to the airport runway nearby. The FAA has very specific rules about the heights of any objects within certain parts of runway flight paths.

This same reason is why I-580/US 395 in Reno switches from side lighting to shorter side+median lighting adjacent to the east/west Reno-Tahoe Airport runway. Also why the signalized intersection of Las Vegas Blvd & Sunset Road in Las Vegas has this unusually low, side-mounted luminaire mounting scheme.