Freeways With High-mast Lighting

[gardenoaksguy]

I put this quote from columnist Maria Sapova in another post, but again, it's applicable in relation to the high-mast lighting discussion:

"Communities sensitive to urban design will seek solutions that enhance their skylines and property values. Communities that just focus on the lowest-cost solutions with no regard to aesthetics will pay a price in their long-term economic development potential."

An ugly Houston today will lead to a poor Houston tomorrow.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great quote Perimeter285, couldn't have said it better myself. I have lived in Houston since 1982 and have been waiting for "someone" (perhaps our collective selves) to finally get it. I see occasional glimpses of light, but they seldom last.

[DaTrain]

i actually agree with you and have thought the same thing about there being too many high mass lighting on the freeways, but you can barely even see our downtown skyline at night anyway.

Tr, but I do remember seeing old pictures of the skyline with a view of freeways with regular streetlights (sunset and/or sunrise would be the time of the pic), with the pics being taken sometime in the 1990s. The lights were lit (on the fwys of course) but compared to the high-masts, the highmasts block out the views due to aesthetics obviously.

Try taking a pic of downtown from Sabine Street and you'll see a mast pole standing in front of Heritage Plaza i.e. and voila, aesthetic problems. And the HOV flyover is a different story when it comes to looking south from Quitman, but times change.

[C2H]

they were talking about how the freeway lights were messing up the view during the grand opening of the Buffalo Bayou on June 10. They said that they tried to get the city to turn off the lights in front of downtown for the event but they unsucessful.

People were talking about this while taking shots of the dt skyline over the bayou. They standing right over by Sabine btw.

[zaphod]

cool. you can see the circus train in that pic

normally i like those lights because they just look better than having forest of poles down the middle of the road yet things are still lit up at night. but i can understand why people dont like the ones near downtown.

[MidtownCoog]

An ugly Houston today will lead to a poor Houston tomorrow.

That's a nice textbook therory, but the reality that is Houston proves it wrong.

And Houston is acutally looking better now than it has in a long time.

Back to the books!

[texas911]

I like it because when I'm lost, I can use them to find my way back to the freeway.

[DaTrain]

I live a couple of blocks from north loop. I dread the day mast lights come to the area. It will be the last time I will be able to enjoy some darkness at night. We tend to forget about the people who live near freeways when decisions like mast lighting are made. I did research on light pollution when working on my masters in public health. The environmental damage done by excessive lighting is only now beginning to be understood. I am aware that north loop will soon be undergoing upgrading. I for one, will be fighting the inclusion of mast lighting, and hope the neighborhood associations along north loop will join.

Obviously U were referring to the North Loop segment between Gulf Freeway and TC Jester. I don't drive down there that much but just the other day I did, and from the looks of it, more masts have been intalled days or weeks ago with the median lighting still in place soon to be taken down. Once that happens the South Loop through the SE will be the last segment with the median lighting - not counting the Ship Channel bridge.

[DaTrain]

Well the Mass lighting in Houston, is not the most urban attractive look, but is anything in Houston?? With the size of Houston freeways, you must have Mass Lighting systems like we have, it the used the regular lights it would look horrible, if you notice the freeways in Houston without HOV lanes in the center do not have mass lighting. On some freeways if you pay attention you can tell how they have changed the lighting over the since since the first started installing them in the early 1980's. I am a fan of the regulaer center freeway lighting though.

My eye may be a bit too keen, but in that reference several bridges have those tabs where light poles were supported by screws. On the other side of the guardrail to protect from being knocked over in case of an accident.

[marc]

I like the high mast lights. they make it very easy to see on the freeways at night and make it safer for everybody. I think they look cool too. most cities are all dark when you are driving at night but Houston is all lit up and i tink it is really cool. It is something unique about our city. And i dont think getting rid of the lights would make any difference in seeing the night sky you live in a freaking city i dont think you are going to get a great view of the stars. go out to the country if you want to see the sky

I agree with you. I thought it cool when they were converting them starting in the mid to late 80's. I think they look futuristic and they really do light up more than the traditional ones. When flying over Houston the city appears MASSIVE and looks similar to LA. I probably wouldn't be such a fan of them if Houston did not have the very wide frontage roads; but think of how many smaller lights would be needed if the high mast ones did not exist. This way, one high mast can cover the freeway, and most times BOTH side "feeder" roads.

Anyway, i really like them. I understand about the "light pollution" that they cause, but to be able to see the night sky or even the night skyline (unless really close) in most cities is sort of becoming a thing of the past anyway.

Also, those high mast lights are helping prepare us for the hovering lights we will have when flying cars are a part of our reality!

m.

[musicman]

Obviously U were referring to the North Loop segment between Gulf Freeway and TC Jester.

North Freeway and TC Jester

[TJones]

Wow, never thought much about this, I guess I like the highmast ones, no glaring. I do kinda miss the ol' "Y" shaped 70's version though.

[foxmulder]

My eye may be a bit too keen, but in that reference several bridges have those tabs where light poles were supported by screws. On the other side of the guardrail to protect from being knocked over in case of an accident.

Drive down 610 past 288 and 225 Every other post is missing or bent.

[musicman]

Wow, never thought much about this, I guess I like the highmast ones, no glaring. I do kinda miss the ol' "Y" shaped 70's version though.

drive down 225 for a flashback.

[kennyc05]

what the hell is a jersey barrier

[ssullivan]

A Jersey Barrier refers to the specific shape of the concrete barriers and guardrails TxDOT uses on most highways built since the late 1970s in Texas. You can see them on most Houston freeways in the center median, and as the guardrails on bridges. It's called a Jersey Barrier because the design was developed in New Jersey.

[Justin]

A Jersey Barrier refers to the specific shape of the concrete barriers and guardrails TxDOT uses on most highways built since the late 1970s in Texas. You can see them on most Houston freeways in the center median, and as the guardrails on bridges. It's called a Jersey Barrier because the design was developed in New Jersey.

Actually, the standard throughout Texas is the F-shape barrier. It more or less looks the same, but the F-shape is safer.

[CDeb]

Everything you ever wanted to know about concrete barriers

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/marapr00/concrete.htm

[hbcu]

who remembers when they had the lighting that's on North Shephed from 610 to I-45 on 610 South in 80s? They were skinny, orange lights

[JLWM8609]

who remembers when they had the lighting that's on North Shephed from 610 to I-45 on 610 South in 80s? They were skinny, orange lights

I remember when they had them on 288 until just a few years ago.

[DaTrain]

I remember when they had them on 288 until just a few years ago.

Low-pressure sodium vapor street lights are what you are talking about. Unlike most streetlights U see all over town with the orange glow, these LPS ones have a yellowish glow. They're still some around town on Shepherd north of 610, a couple of them on the Post Oak ramp to 610 east and at the Eastwood METRO Transit Center. San Jose has a lighting policy on this for nighttime aesthetic reasons because of an observatory on the hills, thus that city has the most LPS lights of any city. The only drawback for it is the glow matches the color of a yellow traffic light.

EDIT - The ones at Eastwood TC are gone, but at least the northbound frontage of Gulf still has LPS lights hanging from the downtown ramp bridge.

[editor]

Low-pressure sodium vapor street lights are what you are talking about. Unlike most streetlights U see all over town with the orange glow, these LPS ones have a yellowish glow. They're still some around town on Shepherd north of 610, a couple of them on the Post Oak ramp to 610 east and at the Eastwood METRO Transit Center. San Jose has a lighting policy on this for nighttime aesthetic reasons because of an observatory on the hills, thus that city has the most LPS lights of any city. The only drawback for it is the glow matches the color of a yellow traffic light.

Not to derail this too far, but...

One of the executive news producers at KHOU a few years ago was convinced that the reason the city put sodium lamps up everywhere was so that in the event of an emergency all the blacks in Houston could be killed. According to her twisted logic, the lamps are colored yellow so that when everyone is fleeing the city black people stand out more than white people or Hispanics; and the lamps are placed all along 610 to effectively form a ring around the part of the city with the most black people so they can be shot if caught leaving the city during said emergency.

All the other black people in the office nodded in agreement. The EP claimed she heard it on the radio, so it must be true. The white in the office people kept their mouths shut and their heads down, which was S.O.P. for those who had to work with her.

Who starts these crazy urban legends, anyway? Sounds like a Sharpton Special.

[musicman]

Not to derail this too far, but...

One of the executive news producers at KHOU a few years ago was convinced that the reason the city put sodium lamps up everywhere was so that in the event of an emergency all the blacks in Houston could be killed. According to her twisted logic, the lamps are colored yellow so that when everyone is fleeing the city black people stand out more than white people or Hispanics; and the lamps are placed all along 610 to effectively form a ring around the part of the city with the most black people so they can be shot if caught leaving the city during said emergency.

All the other black people in the office nodded in agreement. The EP claimed she heard it on the radio, so it must be true. The white in the office people kept their mouths shut and their heads down, which was S.O.P. for those who had to work with her.

Who starts these crazy urban legends, anyway? Sounds like a Sharpton Special.

LOL must have been some fun times there.

[DaTrain]

I'm sure y'all HAIFERS know by now that more masts will be installed at the 45/59/288 interchange where the original cobra head lights line the 59/288 segment including the ramps leading to and from 59. I noticed just weeks ago driving along Chartres under the interchange that the mast concrete foundations were in place, now recently the mast poles are laid down set to be in place. SMH @ TxDot.

[Rail]

I like high mast lighting. Here in Chicago, several recently-rebuilt expressways use high-mast lighting. You definitely notice the added visibility of it after driving on an expressway or tollway that still uses regular lighting.

The Stevenson Expressway (I-55) is probably the most intensely lit limited-access highway in the United States. It's only 6 lanes wide with a wide median, but it is lined with high-mast lighting on both sides every 500 feet or so for about 16 miles from I-294 to Downtown. The inner-most 10 miles of it from Harlem Avenue to Downtown is straight as an arrow, and seeing it lit with high-mast lighting makes it a sight to see. And you can still get good views of the skyline to boot.

Kudos to Houston for implementing it on such a wide scale. I only hope Atlanta (where freeways are horribly underlit at night) and other cities follow suit.

[editor]

I'm not a big fan of the high-mast lights mostly because of the light pollution they create. But I understand they are more efficient and easier to maintain than hundreds of smaller lights. Some day maybe the roads, themselves, will be lit with markers (since you mentioned Chicago, I'm thinking of the fluorescent tubes that line the Jersey barriers on the Ohio Street ramp off the southbound Kennedy).

[TheNiche]

I'm not a big fan of the high-mast lights mostly because of the light pollution they create.

I'm sure you've also run into problems where the high mast lighting interferes with skyline shots, day or night. I know I have.

[Mr. Chenevert]

They are adding high mast lighting to 59 right around Minute Maid, going south to Fannin. In fact, one just went up last night within view of my house. Hopefully it wont light up my bedroom at night.

*crosses fingers*

[JLWM8609]

The new high mast lights at the 288/59/I-45 interchange are now operational. The old "cobra head" lamps are still being lit up too. The combo of the high mast lights and the "cobra head" lamps make for a nicely lit freeway, though we all know the cobra heads are biting the dust.

[bachanon]

there are other options that do not "bleed" upward. there are other options that do not "flood" the world with light. the high mast lights show a lack of determination to reduce light pollution. i hate them.

[houstonmacbro]

I really think they contribute to the awful light pollution we have everywhere.