By the end of the year, it will be brighter along 30 blocks of Downtown after dark.
This week, JEA began a project to install 48 streetlights on Ashley, Church, Forsyth, Julia, Liberty and Market streets.
The installations are the “acorn” historic style fixtures and poles, some with two lamps and some with single lamps.
All the fixtures are LED lights, which use far less electricity than the old sodium-vapor lamps.
The $400,000 project is funded through the city Capital Improvement Plan.
One of the initiatives in the Downtown Investment Authority’s Business Investment and Development Plan schedule is improving the lighting in Hemming Park.
But after the city commissioned a Downtown lighting evaluation, it was determined there was a need to expand the lit area in the urban core, so the city is funding the work instead of the Downtown Development Trust Fund, which is administered by the authority.
“The first phase’s geographic boundary was prioritized because that’s where we have our nighttime activities, residential development, The Elbow District and where we have invested and encouraged ground floor development through DIA’s Retail Enhancement Program,” said Guy Parola, Downtown redevelopment manager.
The second phase will improve lighting in the LaVilla area west of Julia Street.
Another priority area identified in the evaluation, along the Northbank Riverwalk in the vicinity of the former Duval County Courthouse, will be funded later due to the scheduled repair of the collapsed parking deck along Liberty Street at the Riverwalk, he said.
For the safety of crews and the public, access to sidewalks around installation sites will be temporarily limited while the work is in progress. The project is scheduled to be complete Dec. 15.
For questions about sidewalk closures or the project itinerary, contact JEA Project Outreach at (904) 665-7500 or email [email protected].
(904) 356-2466