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The official website of the City of London300 Dufferin Avenue519-661-CITY (2489)
Nigh time view of a street with LED lights

Street Lights

Did you know that there are 35,000 street lights in London?

These lights can be broken down into three major categories:

  • 21,000 Cobra style (fixture is on an arm extending over the road), 70 watts to 400 watts

  • 13,650 Post-top style (used on most residential streets), 70 watts to 150 watts

  • 350 Other (pedestrian globes, wall mounted, etc.), 70 watts to 250 watts

Most street lights are high pressure sodium (HPS); however, light emitting diode (LED) lights have been tested and are being used on new street light projects. 

The first phase of the LED Street Light Upgrade project is complete. Just over 9,000 HPS fixtues have been replaced with LED fixtures.  Energy consumption for these fixtures has been reduced by 55%. More information on the Transportation Energy Optimization Program can be found here.

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  • When will my street light be repaired?

    The maintenance requirements of the City's street lights are governed by the Municipal Act, 2001, Ontario Regulation 239/02, Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways. 

    The following minimum response times are used to prioritize the repair of the street light failures:

    Major roads (Class 1 and 2)

    • If only two consecutive lights or less than 30 percent of the lights per kilometre are out, then no action is required.
    • If three or more consecutive lights or 30 percent or more of the lights per kilometre are out, then the City has seven days to repair the lights after being notified of the outage.

    Minor streets (Class 3 and 4 with posted speed limits 80 kilometres per hour or higher)

    • If only two consecutive lights or less than 30 percent of the lights per kilometre are out, then no action is required.
    • If three or more consecutive lights or 30 percent or more of the lights per kilometre are out, then the City has 14 days to repair the lights after being notified of the outage.


    The target response time for all other outages is 28 days; however, repairs may take longer due to other higher priority work.

    If a spot outage is in the current year's mass relamping program then the outage will be completed as part of the mass relamping program.

     

  • What is mass relamping?

    Just like the lamps in your home, street light bulbs have a limited life and the most cost effective way to maintain the lights is to replace the lamp on a regular schedule before the anticipated end of life.

    In order to accomplish this the city is split into five zones and each year the street light lamps are replaced in one zone​. In 2014, Zone 5 was mass relamped. Zone 1 will be mass relamped in 2015.

    Some bulbs will fail early and these will be replaced as part of the regular maintenance program.

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