A streetlight on North Street in front of Draper’s Steak and Seafood in Fairfax City (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

More of the gas-powered lamps around Old Town Fairfax will dim in the coming weeks, as the city advances to a new phase of its push to convert all streetlights to LED bulbs.

To kick off the project’s next stage, workers will remove 33 decommissioned gas lights this month, starting Sunday (July 14) on Chain Bridge Road between Main Street and North Street. Additional work is planned for July 21 on Main Street from Chain Bridge Road (Route 123) to Blenheim Blvd and on a portion of University Drive south of Main Street.

“Work will be performed between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday to reduce any disruption to traffic, pedestrians, and businesses,” the City of Fairfax said in a press release.

The streetlights slated for removal have been out of service since last fall, when the city installed 25 new LED lamps for the first phase of its Old Town lighting project.

Installed between 1998 to 2003, the existing gas-powered lights give Old Town “a genuinely historic ambiance,” but they’re now aging and don’t provide sufficient illumination, city staff said in a memo to the mayor and Fairfax City Council.

Selected after a “detailed study of the options,” the new LED lights have a brightness of 5,692 lumens and a color temperature of 2700 Kelvin, coming under the 3000 K threshold recommended by the International Dark Sky Association to limit light pollution.

The fixtures will effectively illuminate streets and sidewalks, while minimizing light pollution and complying with the city’s streetscape standards for the Old Town Fairfax Historic Overly District, according to the project page.

“The new streetlights will provide enhanced illumination and safety in the historic downtown area,” the city said in the release. “In addition to reducing operating costs, the new streetlights are projected to reduce the city’s greenhouse emissions.”

For the project’s second phase, which will add 40 LED streetlights, the Fairfax City Council awarded a five-year, $666,302 contract on June 25 to Lighting Maintenance Inc.

A roughly 12-week installation process is expected to begin in late July or early August, replacing lights on:

• Both sides of North Street from West Street to University Drive
• North side of North Street from University Drive to Blenheim Blvd
• Blenheim Blvd between North and Main streets
• Sager Avenue between University Drive and East Street

Lights will also be installed in front of the Mayfair on Main condominiums at East and Main streets. The gas lamps on North Street along the former Bank of America parking lot are exempted, since the city anticipates they’ll be converted “as part of future site development plans.”

Fairfax City will still have about 200 gas streetlights to replace outside of Old Town. Aiming to swap 50 lights per year, the city has allocated $805,000 for the project’s third phase in its current capital improvement program (CIP).

“Additional funding has been requested for subsequent phases to replace all remaining gas lamps with LED streetlights in upcoming years, which will be evaluated for award in future budget cycles,” a Fairfax City spokesperson told FFXnow.

According to the CIP, the city estimates that the remainder of the project will require $3.7 million, including the approved third-phase funding, and could be completed by June 30, 2028.

 

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