The residents around Central sighed bitterly: The street lights are as dazzling as the small sun!, How did safety lights change into disturbing lights? Over the past month, Central | Liangcheng | Street Lights
After a busy day's work, I enjoyed a warm dinner with my wife and children, and the night quietly shrouded Mr. Shao's home. However, the beautiful night outside the window, when the lights were shining brightly, did not belong to this warm family: in the past month, due to the replacement of the central street lights, Mr. Shao and his family had to endure the brightness that had never been seen before. The summer night, which could have been windy, cool, and scenic, had to be isolated day by day by thick shading curtains. "The lights are really dazzling, and children are always excited and unable to sleep at night." In the interview, he felt helpless.
In recent days, "Central Street Lights" have become a summer annoyance for some citizens. Due to the extremely close distance between some of the Central Elevated Road sections and residential areas, since the adjustment of some street lights at the end of June, the Jiefang Daily Shangguan News interactive message board has received many citizens seeking help: the street lights that protect driving safety have now become a problem that affects the daily life of residents. What should be done?
Lighting up all night is like "polar day"
Liangcheng Second Village is located on Liangcheng Road in Hongkou District, closely adjacent to the central ring road on the south side of the community. Mr. Shao is an old resident here. Upon receiving a call from the reporter, he directly sent several photos: from the photos, Mr. Shao's building should be the highest floor in the southernmost row of the community, closest to the Central Elevated Road, and roughly at the same height, thus facing the street lights on the south side of the elevated road. In the darkness, the street lights illuminate the entrance of the house, and there is no need to turn on the lights indoors, they are as bright as during the day.
At around 21:00 on July 24th, the reporter visited Mr. Shao's home for on-site inspection. Entering the house, the light shining from the south side of the house immediately caught the reporter's eye: inside the room, two rooms adjacent to the central ring had not yet drawn curtains. Looking directly at the window, there were 2 to 3 street lights that would have a more intuitive impact on Mr. Shao's home. The light shines on the glass window, reflecting large apertures. "The later the time, the more these street lights appear to be on," Mr. Shao told reporters. At night, due to the surrounding building lights still on and the high traffic volume on the elevated road, the dazzling degree of the street lights can still be tolerated. However, as the night deepens, the surrounding environment gradually darkens, and the lights shining indoors are like searchlights, "and the lights stay on all night without any brightness adjustment."
The light shines into the house and is prominently reflected inside.
The situation Mr. Shao is facing is not an exception. When visiting Liangcheng Second Village, the reporter noticed that the southernmost row of buildings in the community are all parallel and closely attached to the central ring road, with a straight-line distance of less than 10 meters. Like Mr. Shao's family, residents living on higher floors should be able to feel the "deterrent power" of street lights. "In the community group, I have indeed heard discussions from everyone, and most of the complaints are concentrated among residents on five or six floors," Mr. Shao told reporters. Apart from the Liangcheng Ercun community, there are also many citizens who have encountered the same troubles. For example, Ms. Liu, a resident of Lane 309, Xiangyin Road, Yangpu District, reported to reporters that when the elevated street lights light up at night, she can only pull the curtains and cannot even open the windows.
"In fact, for many years we have been at peace with these nearby street lights," Mr. Shao recalled. The appearance of this round of help originated in mid to late June. "One night, I saw through the window that the south side of the elevated road light was under construction, and I didn't know what specific project was being carried out. It wasn't until the next day when the lights were lit again in the dark that I realized that the lights had become whiter and brighter than before." In late June, Ms. Liu also noticed a similar change. After the street light facing the house window was replaced, the phenomenon of dazzling and disturbing the people appeared.
Looking out from Mr. Shao's house, it is obvious that there are differences in the lighting of the street lights on the north and south sides of the Central Elevated Road, and the lighting inside the house facing him is slightly whiter.
When driving on the central section of Hongkou and Yangpu districts, there are many instances of inconsistent street lights on both sides.
Measures to improve disturbance to the public
After discovering the lighting problem, Mr. Shao immediately attempted to report the situation to the relevant authorities through the 12345 Citizen Service Hotline, and soon received a response from a staff member. According to his introduction, a total of 7 lights were replaced on the south side of the Central Ring Road in the Liangcheng Second Village where Mr. Shao lives, covering a length of about 1 kilometer. This is why residents have a different perception of the lights compared to before. After receiving feedback on the issue, the staff member also stated that the power of the street lights would be adjusted in the future. However, Mr. Shao has been looking forward to it for over a month now, but has not seen any changes in the street lights outside the window.
According to the chat records between Mr. Shao and the staff member, the replaced lights were 7 street lights in the inner circle of the Central Ring Road.
"The difference between new and old street lights mainly lies in the color temperature of the light, and a white light actually means that the blue part of the spectrum is strengthened." Hao Luoxi, a professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University and Vice Chairman of the International Lighting Committee, analyzed that "when used as elevated street lights, yellow and white lights actually have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, white light is usually dominated by LED lights, which have better economy and can better maintain the alertness of drivers driving at night. However, compared to them, in special weather conditions, yellow light also has advantages such as better fog permeability. Hao Luoxi also emphasized that if there are very close residential areas near the elevated road section." The setting of street lights should still consider using warm yellow light as the main light. "White light can greatly inhibit the secretion of melatonin, affecting residents' nighttime rest."
This adjustment has already caused adverse interference to the lives of residents. How can we improve it? Haoluoxi also proposed several measures. "Firstly, it is necessary to optimize the lighting distribution and strictly require the street lights to be directed towards elevated road surfaces, reducing backscatter and interference light, and shining it on residents' homes," she suggested. "Secondly, it is also possible to consider improving lighting efficiency and reducing power. Currently, both internationally and domestically, there are specialized technical requirements for road lighting fixtures, and the illuminance, brightness, uniformity, and other aspects of the street lights need to ensure driving safety. On this basis, the quality of light should be improved from the perspective of light quality, and various methods such as high light efficiency, reasonable lighting distribution, and intelligent control can be used to reduce single light power and energy consumption. In addition, by adding additional equipment such as light shields to the street light heads, it is also possible to reduce the impact on driving safety to a certain extent." "Disturbance from nearby residents."
"Actually, as residents, what we hope more is that the relevant departments can listen to the residents' thoughts before adjusting the street lights." During an interview in Liangcheng Second Village, an old man admitted to the reporter, "From the west of Xiangyin Road Tunnel to the Shanghai Jia Expressway section, the Central Elevated Road runs from east to west, and there are many houses on both sides, which are inevitably affected by the lights. Therefore, before changing the lights, the relevant departments can think ahead, conduct sufficient visits and research, collect the opinions and suggestions of the residents, and do a good job of communication and explanation in advance, opening up channels for problem feedback. The current situation may be avoided."
Due to the frequent occurrence of such requests for help, Mr. Shao has recently received a call from relevant staff of the Shanghai Housing and Urban Rural Development Management Committee, stating that he will come to inspect the situation within this week. Regarding the follow-up progress of the disturbance caused by the Central Ring Road lights, the Jiefang Daily Shangguan News reporter will continue to pay attention.
