The Washington Square West Civic Association’s relighting project has raised enough to light a particularly dark stretch of 12th Street. The WSWCA has secured full funding for street-light replacement with the assistance of former senator Vince Fumo and a grant of $100K from the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development. City Council member Frank DiCicco, who has worked closely with WSWCA president Judy Applebaum on the relighting effort, has secured $415K in city funding. The project is being managed by the Center City District and the initial phase includes new lighting for the 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200 blocks of Pine Street.
The new lighting will be an great improvement over the current highway lighting that doesn’t do much for the safety of pedestrians in Washington Square. The new lights will be as bright as Center City District’s west of Broad Street additions and will have a maximum height of 14 feet, shorter than the posts currently in use. Fixtures will be placed at intervals of 60 feet along each side of a street, with lights on the opposite streetside staggered so that the effective spacing between lights will be 30 feet. Light posts on 12th are scheduled to be installed starting this week.