Tag Archives: lighting

The Overhead Streetlights of Local Streets, Part 1

Previously I wrote about streetlights, with a special emphasis on the freeways since these were about to be converted to LED. Now Xcel Energy has announced 100,000 local streetlights in its service area will be converted, so it is time to look at some of these. The NEMA Lights In the early days, every manufacturer […]

The Case of Bloomington’s Disappearing Street Lights

Street lights are disappearing in Bloomington. Last summer I noticed red spray-paint on a bunch of the poles on Lyndale Ave. Then they started to disappear. One day I drove out during my lunch hour, and crews were literally cutting them down with a Sawzall. An email to the city revealed that many of the […]

The Importance of Bicycle Lighting

It’s The Crank again, and today I’m going to talk about bicycle lighting or the lack of it, and the various ways I find it annoying. When I ride at night or in low-light situations, I like to have at least a rear light to make me more visible to motorists. A front light is […]