I would second the points that Robbie, Eric, & George have made, in particular, that the primary purpose of the path is for transportation. This was the reason the City was able to secure federal funding for the path through the transportation enhancement program.
For me, the issue comes down to how many people are not using the path because they feel it is too dark. When I hear my own wife say she would not use the path after dark unless I am with her, then I think we have a problem. If my wife is saying this, how many other people feel the same way? And its not that my wife is especially timid on her bike, just uncomfortable in dark, isolated areas like many people. This means lack of lighting is negatively impacting the paths transportation function. We wouldn't tolerate such a situation on City streets and I don't hear anyone saying we should remove street lights. We have grown up with street lights and have come to accept them unquestioningly. What is different about path lighting is it is "new" in the sense that it is in people's backyards instead of their front yards. That said, I agree with George that the current plan is inadequate. In particular, the lighting is too bright and not uniform enough. What is missing from this discussion are guidelines for lighting. So below are some guidelines my wife found and emailed to a friend in the Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood. Hopefully, there might be a solution to the SW Path lighting conundrum in these guidelines. ************************************************************************************************************ Hi Paul, I meant to contact you sooner about the path lighting. I've been trying to figure out if there might be a way to make everyone happy. Perhaps not, but it does seem to me that one of the problems with path lighting is that the lights are brighter than they need to be if the purpose is to allow people to see and be seen while biking or walking, or to see the path well enough to bike safely. One of the interesting things about the eye is it's amazing ability to adapt to a wide range of brightness. I found a web site called "the Engineering toolbox" (www.EngineeringToolBox.com<http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/>) that lists the illuminance recommended for a variety of situations, with comparisons to natural light situations. 1 lux = 1 lumen per square meter. Here are some of the values: Common light levels (in lux): Sunlight 107,500 Full daylight 10,750 Overcast day 1075 Very dark day 107 Twilight 10.8 Full moon 0.11 Overcast night 0.0001 Recommended (lux): Public areas with dark surroundings 20-50 Warehouses, homes, theaters, archives 150 Easy office work, classes 250 Normal office work, groceries, labs 500 Detailed drawing work 1500-2000 Prolonged and exacting visual tasks 5000-10,000 After looking at these values it occurred to me that we should find out what the actual lux values are for the lamps. The full moon can be enough to see by to get around, and even cast shadows. I would think that one could provide something in the range of 5-10 full moons (0.5-1 lux, or maybe even 1-5 lux) and that this would be ample for assisting with biking or walking safely. Something in this range might also not be so objectionable to those who live nearby, although it would likely still make it harder to see stars from the path (which is not the path's purpose). It would be far lower than the 20-50 recommended for public areas with dark surroundings, but I don't know what the light level is that the city is trying to achieve. I found several web sites that said that lighting of bike/ped paths should have a minimum of 5 lux (range 5-22 lux). I guess I wonder whether this much is really needed. It might be something worth looking into. Perhaps Madison could be in the forefront of ultra-low level lighting?? Best wishes, Laura ************************************************************************************************************ Mark -- Mark N. Shahan ------ __o 607 Piper Drive ------- _`\<,_ Madison, WI 53711-1338 ---- (*)/ (*) (608) 274-9367 [email protected] On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 7:31 PM, Matt Logan <[email protected]> wrote: > John ‘Sly’ Sylvester turns in another strident performance of > car-supremacist theater:**** > > ** ** > > http://www.forwardlookout.com/?p=15623**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
_______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
