Project Recommendation #14
Project Recommendation #14
The Area Agency on Aging will partner with communities whose residents have expressed a need for more lighting fixtures in areas with high pedestrian traffic, to create safer walking and biking spaces for older adults and people with disabilities.
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Focus group participants in some communities strongly prioritized adequate lighting in areas with high pedestrian traffic. Community members spoke about feeling unsafe to walk in their neighborhoods and downtown at dusk and in the evenings because it is too dark. Similar to requests for pedestrian safety infrastructure improvements, this priority project intersects safety, social connection, and physical health. Ultimately, Merced County residents want their neighborhoods and communities to be more walkable, and improved lighting can help get them out into public spaces.
This project is similar to Project Recommendation #5, in that there are a number of tools available to the County and local jurisdictions to implement or repair pedestrian safety infrastructure, such as lighting; however, it will require relationship building, fund development, and a great deal of additional planning.
To get started, the Area Agency on Aging is committed to supporting communities to conduct a public lighting assessment, which would evaluate the effectiveness and impact of their street lighting system. An assessment considers factors like energy efficiency, safety, visual appeal, and environmental impact. Once an assessment has been completed, communities would have the information needed to identify sites for pedestrian lighting that would most impact the safety and livability of older adults and people with disabilities.
The Area Agency on Aging will reach out to appropriate city staff and/or local leaders where residents have expressed the need for more lighting and meet to identify specific sites for public lighting improvements by December 31, 2025.
The Area Agency on Aging, in collaboration appropriate city staff and/or local leaders, will apply for a public lighting assessment by June 30, 2026.
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