The 46th Street Pilot Lighting project is the first major investment funded under Minnehaha-Hiawatha Community Works. In early 2010, the City will finish installing 55 street lights on 46th Street between 34th and 46th Avenues. The result will be a corridor with much improved lighting for walkers, bikers, and drivers and better connections to the LRT station and neighborhoods.

The 46th Street Pilot Lighting Project came about from comments from the public outreach process for the Minnehaha-Hiawatha Community Works project. Area residents brought up a variety of ideas to improve the Minnehaha-Hiawatha corridor, including better lighting and increased safety, better connections to the LRT stations, and a more sustainable community.

In response, Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis have been working with the Longfellow Community Council and Standish-Ericsson Neighborhood Association on a project to improve walking, biking, and driving along 46th Street connecting to the LRT station. The Hennepin County Board and City of Minneapolis approved this project, which is being installed with no assessments to nearby property owners.

An exciting part of this project will be a test of two energy-efficient lighting technologies: LED (light-emitting diode) on the east side of Hiawatha Avenue and induction on the west side. Both technologies have the potential to reduce energy use and operating costs while benefiting the environment.  Through long-term tracking of energy use, maintenance and operating costs, emissions reductions, and light quality the project will determine costs and benefits of each technology versus the standard lights.

Your impressions of these lights matter! Please go to the following link to answer a few survey questions about the existing lights in the corridor.

Lighting Project Location
Compare the Lighting Types
Take survey

For more information on the 46th Street Pilot Lighting Project, please check the links below:

Powerpoint Presentation – from September 2008 public meeting updates on the status of the project
Powerpoint Presentation – from July 2008 provides background information on the proposed project

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