By Cody Owens
Birminghamal.gov
Birmingham is a little brighter than it was a few years ago. In partnership with the City, Alabama Power has completed an upgrade to the 30,000 streetlights across all nine districts.
In 2016, the Birmingham City Council approved the plan to modernize the lighting across the Magic City. According to Councilor Crystal Smitherman, who chairs the Public Improvements Committee, this is an issue that residents have wanted to see addressed for some time.
“Having adequate lighting is important for a multitude of reasons,” Smitherman said. “For one, criminals are less likely to target homes or cars if there is a lot of light shining. So it helps reduce property crime. Second, from a first responder standpoint, having upgraded lighting means that can see addresses, homes and pedestrians a lot easier and will help increase response times and public safety.”
In March, the Public Improvements Committee, will be discussion the next phase of the LED light overhaul, according to Smitherman. “We want to hear from all of our colleagues and citizens about where they believe lighting upgrades should be prioritized,” she said.
District 5, which encompasses the downtown center, had the most LED lights added as of January 20, 2020 – 5,793 lights. District 9 and 4 both received a substantial amount of new lighting as well – 3,765 and 3,579, respectively.
Council President William Parker, who chairs the Parks and Recreation Committee, said he is encouraged by the progress that has been made to shed more light on Birmingham’s public infrastructure, but believes there is more work to be done.
“It’s a night and day difference from where we were before the LED lighting upgrades,” Parker said. “When we have people coming to visit from across the country for a sporting event or convention, we don’t want to have dark streets and sidewalks. That’s a bad look. We’ve put a lot of focus on upgrading the lighting in our parks as well. I’m very pleased with the initial phases of the lighting modernization.”
In June 2019, the Council approved a lease agreement in which the city transferred ownership of approximately 266 light poles located in 16 parks to Alabama Power to convert to LED and maintain them. These parks are located across all nine districts.
“We’re going to continue to build our partnership with Alabama Power and work to add more lighting to even more parks across the city,” Parker said. “We want our parks to be world class, because the citizens deserve nothing less. Birmingham has abundance of city-owned parks and we want to make sure they’re all safe and well-lit.”
Smitherman is continuing to have discussions with Councilors about where they would like to see increased lighting in their districts. “We want as much feedback as we can get,” Smitherman said. “Our goal is to fill in all the gaps that currently exist in Birmingham. It’s a big task but I think we’re all working together very well to tackle these needs. Increasing public safety in our communities is something I’ve been wanting to address since stepping into office and this is a big part of that.”
Here is a breakdown of the number of LED light upgrades by City Council District:
District 1 –1,973
District 2 – 2,783
District 3 – 2,137
District 4 – 3,579
District 5 – 5,793
District 6 – 2,904
District 7 – 2,429
District 8 – 2,780
District 9 – 3,765
