Guide to the Contextual Application of Overhead Lighting on Highways

Roadway lighting is a common countermeasure used to increase visibility at night or in poor weather conditions, and may offer substantial safety benefits for all road users. With the advent of light emitting diode (LED) and adaptive roadway lighting systems, lighting characteristics can be adjusted as a function of need as well as to control for unintended effects. These systems are believed to provide effective safety performance potentially at a lower cost and energy requirements compared with traditional lighting systems. Decisions regarding the appropriate level of light to provide a given freeway, highway rest area or interchange, or urban streetscape are dependent upon localized characteristics, climate, and other circumstances. What may seem like the ideal quantity of light to support the safety of vehicular users may be less beneficial or even harmful to vulnerable road users, the environment, or community groups. Furthermore, the qualities of light, such as the color, intensity, uniformity, or degree of glare may also impact safety outcomes for all users. This creates a need to strike an appropriate balance to maximize safety benefits while controlling for and avoiding harmful impacts. While the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Highway Safety Manual and other literature provide guidelines to support decisions on the appropriate application of light for different contexts, the industry seeks more robust information and analysis tools to assist in decision-making about the appropriate quantity and quality of light for different environments, contexts, and purposes. Considerations of the different uses and effects of lighting in rural, urban, and suburban contexts are desired, as well as lighting targeted to highway facilities such as rest areas and interchanges. The research will not compare or recommend proprietary lighting products or systems for a given application. The objective of this research is to develop a guide for state departments of transportation (DOTs) seeking direction on the appropriate quantity and quality of overhead light for a given highway. This would include considerations of fixed, adaptable, continuous, or targeted lighting with respect to a given highway or site.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4942

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $650000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 05-25

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Weeks, Jennifer

• Performing Organizations:

  WSP USA, Inc.

  Merrimack, New Hampshire   
• Principal Investigators:

  Lutkevich, Paul

• Start Date: 20231011
• Expected Completion Date: 20260410
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Design; Guidelines; Highway safety; Impacts; Installation; Light emitting diodes; Lighting systems; State of the practice; Street lighting
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01739650
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 05-25
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 20 2020 6:48PM