Bonnyville Gets Some Resolve with Street Lights on 50th from Atco

After the Town of Bonnyville had expressed their displeasure with the street lights that were installed on 50th avenue/Highway 28 on the west end of town, Atco has made an attempt at resolving the problems.

There were a few issues that Town Council brought up to the electric company shortly after the lights were installed in January; including the Town paid for more lights than what were installed, the lights were to be set back further from the street, to allow for expansion, the lights were to be more luminous, and the lights were to be higher set than those that were installed. The two main concerns of Council were, 1. the lights were not what they paid for & agreed to and 2. the lights simply weren’t bright enough, causing safety concerns. Mayor of Bonnyville, Gene Sobolewski explains what Atco has done to try to rectify the problems.

“Atco is going to be putting in 219 watt LED. There’s going to be a ton of brightness, but it’s going to be fairly focused.” Mayor Sobolewski and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Mark Power met with Atco early last week and assure Council and residents that the company has been cooperative in trying to make sure the Town is satisfied with the lighting on the busy roadway. “They are going above and beyond with the higher LED wattage of the lights themselves and luminescence of the lights.”

“Between the standards, where you have a bit of the intersection, it still not quite going to be tact.” Tact refers to the guideline, used by Alberta Transportation, to set adequate luminosity. “Tact is the goal, but it’s also a pricey goal,” explains the mayor.

The higher wattage lights were installed Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. The Town urges residents who have used and plan to use the stretch of road at night over the next couple weeks to contact the Town should there be any problems with visibility. The Town must notify Atco if the lighting is not adequate within a reasonable about of time to have it further fixed. “I want to see these lights, see them in action and make sure they’re what were asking for. [Atco] doesn’t want to be held until November for someone to say they don’t like it, so we have to make up our minds. We either have to be happy with it or we’re not.”