Yorkton, Saskatchewan
"
Downtown & West Broadway Decorative Lighting Project "
West Broadway Corridor

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1
These photos were taken October 1st, 2006 at the intersection of Highways 10A and 52 at the west end of the West Broadway portion of the project.  At left and right are 'before & after' photos, first with the FCOs added, and then with the incumbent cobras removed.
The amber lights in the background of photo 2 are low pressure sodium lamps; they too have since been replaced (photos pending).  

2

3
I kind of like the look of the new lights (3).  When other than right under the light, the unobtrusive green light ring is all you really see.  A 'pathway' effect is provided without using the bright lamps to do so.

I wasn't sure of the wisdom of using such a short pole (4); the intersection is 2 or 3 lanes wide each direction with fixtures placed either on the central median or along side the roadway, but as noted in photo 2, there is no real dark area.

4
Photos 5 & 6 (right) are day and night photos showing the reverse view from the same location.  To note is how unobtrusive the FCOs are directly behind the traffic signals.

Contrast this to the lamps in the downtown area (photo 7, below).  The glare not only makes street markers all but impossible to read, they overwhelm the traffic lights themselves.   

5

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7



As nice as the FCOs are from a distance, because they are very bright and quite closely spaced, you get a kind of a 'strobe' effect when driving beneath them.  I don't know if it's the brightness of the lamp or if I'm just overly-sensitive to the effect because I'm watching for it.  I'd be interested in other opinions.

Regardless, they are light-years ahead of the high pressure cobras (and low-pressure sodiums) they are replacing, not only from a light pollution aspect, but aesthetically as well. 



FCO day view

Below are a few photos of the downtown lighting 'upgrade'.
The acorns are a nice touch in the daytime,
but at night, the downtown morphs into something out of a Steven King movie. 

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