Sir Francis Drake Boulevard Street Lighting

Overview

The County is replacing street lighting related to the lights that were installed on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (SFDB) during the Upgrade The Drake project. The replacements are intended to reduce light dispersal on adjacent properties, decrease intensity and improve the light aesthetic while maintaining lighting uniformity levels necessary for safety.

Lighting poles and fixtures in the medians will be replaced along approximately one third of the SFDB corridor that was worked on as part of the Upgrade The Drake project. They will be replaced with shorter, decorative poles and dimmer fixtures. The shorter poles require closer spacing to sufficiently and uniformly light the roadway, resulting in a net increase in total street lights with a net decrease of light dispersal into adjacent properties. To reduce additional cost, the placement of these decorative poles will reuse light foundations already installed to the extent possible.

The majority of light fixtures on the remaining two thirds of the project corridor, excluding intersection safety lighting, were replaced in June 2022 with different fixtures that are dimmer and cast less light outside of the roadway and sidewalks. In addition, backlight shields were installed on sidewalk light poles to further minimize light spill into neighboring yards.

The pole replacements are only occurring in median locations where a number of new poles were added. In areas where there were existing street light poles in the pre-project condition, only the fixture heads were replaced.

Funding

The project is expected to be funded by the remaining budget of the Upgrade the Drake project and the Marin County Street Light Fund.

Traffic impacts

There will be limited traffic impacts associated with this lighting replacement project. The pole replacement work is phased so that the more time intensive foundation work occurs in August 2022, prior to the start of the school year when there is typically an influx in traffic.

Timeline

January 2022

•  Safety light fixtures replaced at the eight signalized intersections along SFDB from Highway 101 and the Town of Ross

March / April 2022

• Replace all remaining fixtures that are operating along the corridor
• Lighting replacement project goes to Board of Supervisors to begin contractor bidding process and procurement of decorative lighting poles
• Please note that the estimated lead time for ordering, fabricating and delivering the new poles is at least 6 months

Late July / Early August 2022

• Anticipated start of "Phase One" of the project: Foundation and wiring work on the medians in preparation for future pole replacements
• Some poles may be removed during Phase One to accommodate the work
• Expected to take approximately one month and have minimal traffic impacts

Spring 2023

• Expected delivery of the new,  shorter, decorative lighting poles
• Anticipated start of "Phase Two" of the project: A selection of the light poles along the median will be replaced with the new, shorter, decorative light poles
• Please note that the project is only replacing median light poles that were added during the Upgrade the Drake project