Linda Vista Avenue High Voltage Series Circuit Street Light Conversion
On December 4, 2023, the City of Pasadena awarded the Linda Vista Avenue High Voltage Series Circuit Street Light Conversion Project to California Professional Engineering, Inc., and is scheduled to be working between January 23, 2024 and July 10, 2024.
Description:
This project consists of the repair, replacement, and modification of existing street light Series Circuit S-104 on Linda Vista Avenue from Fern Drive to Afton Street and others including adjoining portion of La Vereda Road and El Circulo Drive. The work includes furnish, modification and installation of street light standards, concrete foundations, LED luminaires and fixtures (to be completed by City Crew), conduits, conductors, pull boxes, and miscellaneous appurtenant work (to be completed by contractor).
Justification:
Public safety, as well as worker safety, are the two strongest justifications for converting the existing high voltage series to lower voltage multiple circuits. Due to aged infrastructure, high voltage systems experience intermittent service outages affecting entire neighborhoods. City field crews experience frequent grounding problems and existing lead-shielded conductors are prone to electrical shorts as well as transformer issues. The existing high voltage street lights run on 6.6 amp series circuits, for which transformers are no longer manufactured and incandescent and mercury vapor lamps are no longer available. This results in high maintenance costs and unacceptable service, as the lights are often inoperative during rainy weather. Unlike a low voltage multiple system, if one light goes out on a high voltage series circuit, all lights on that circuit go out as well. There is a need to systematically replace these antiquated systems with an upgraded system that takes standard power inputs (120/208/277/480V). By converting the older incandescent bulbs to LED, the City will also realize energy cost savings of at least 50 percent.
Environmental Analysis:
On December 4, 2023, the contract award has been determined to be categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines in accordance with Title 14, Chapter 3, Article 19, Section 15301, Class 1, and Section 15302, Class 2. Class 1 consists of minor alterations of existing facilities involving negligible or no expansion of use. Class 2 consists of replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced. There would be no expansion of use of the street network because of the project, and therefore, there are no unusual circumstances.
Grant Funds:
This project is partially funded through American Rescue Plan Act (ARRA).
Contact:
Elvin Jiang – Project Manager Please contact the Public Works Engineering Division at (626) 744-7103 or Ejiang@cityofpasadena.net