An Easy Guide to Choosing LED Street Lights

From driveway to highway, let’s navigate the options

Published on: 2/7/2019

From driveway to highway, Cree Lighting delivers street LED lighting solutions that meet the needs of every application. Our portfolio was designed around visual comfort, durability, and performance to enhance the lighting experience of all who encounter them. Cree Lighting wrote the first chapter in LED street lighting with our first generation of street lights over a decade ago, and we continue to develop the story of where better light can take you today.

Before we look at all the Cree Lighting options, it’s important to review the generally accepted application goals of street lighting. These usually include:

• Offer comfortable light levels that allow drivers to see accurately and quickly identify objects on the roadway and within the vicinity
• Supplement headlights by helping drivers see details better, understand where they are located, and enable them to react to changing environmental and driving conditions
• Help pedestrians identify designated walkways and see nearby vehicles, other pedestrians, and objects in their vicinity
• Help improve traffic safety and flow of movement, regardless of weather condition
• Minimize shadows while reducing both direct and reflected glare from the ground or other surfaces
• Minimize light trespass and pollution to reduce negative environmental impacts

With these goals in mind, well designed street lighting can help reduce nighttime accidents, improve flow of traffic, promote safety and security after dark, minimize environmental impacts, help cities and businesses look better at night, and promote a general sense of pride and wellbeing among citizens.

Designing for street and roadway applications takes into consideration a variety of factors such as visibility, aesthetics, safety, environmental impacts, “smart city” capabilities, and of course, cost.  While the full design and specification process can be complex with many factors to consider, it generally requires the determination of these items:

• Roadway Classification – What type of thoroughfare is it? This could be anything from a bicycle path to a major freeway.
• Area Classification – What type of area is the thoroughfare surrounded by? This could be residential to commercial.
• Pavement Luminance – What are the reflectance characteristics of the roadway or pathway surface materials? This can impact the quality and uniformity of the light.
• Distribution Classification – How should the light by distributed from the source? This is very application specific and usually involves vertical and lateral light distribution as well as control and cutoff above the maximum candlepower.  
• Lighting System Geometries – This involves the relative mounting height of the light source and the desired uniformity of the light distribution.
• Pole Spacing – How far apart should the light sources be placed? This is often influenced by the location of existing utility poles and masts, property lines, and/or the geometry of the thoroughfare being illuminated. In general, it is more cost-effective to space light sources further apart.

No matter your roadway application, Cree Lighting has a street lighting family to meet your needs. Here’s a handy reference table for selecting Cree Lighting LED street lights, outlining the options for each of our families, by the top three most common street lighting applications:

NEED A HAND-OUT TO SHARE? Download this Roadway Selection Guide which includes the quick compare table above.

Cree Lighting Street Light fixtures included in this selection guide are the RSW Series, the XSP Series, and the Traveyo™ Series. Visit the product pages for more information. You can also view our entire street lighting portfolio here.

The process for requesting street lighting depends on the condition of a street and requires an existing lighting system.

If there is an existing street lighting system in place, a request can be made for a new streetlight (modern or decorative) or a utility light (light on a wooden pole).

Recommended article:
How Much Energy Do LED Street Lights Save?
How Many Lumens Do I Need for Outdoor Lighting?
Indoor Lighting - How Healthy Is It?

If street lighting does not exist on residential roadways within the City of L.A., a first time lighting system may be petitioned for through the 1911 and 1913 Improvement Act.

New lighting for Existing Street Lighting Systems

New Streetlight - Ornamental or Modern Lighting

A property owner can petition the city to initiate an assessment project to install lighting on the street adjacent to their property. This type of installation is for a complete lighting system on the street. Property owners are responsible for their share of the costs of installation and annual maintenance.

New Streetlight - Utility Lighting

A property owner can petition LADWP to request the installation of a utility light on a wooden pole. Where requested, a new utilitarian light may be installed if the location meets all of the following criteria:

1. There is an existing wooden utility pole at the requested location.
2. There is no other street light within 300 feet, or, the location is at an unlighted intersection with a wooden utility pole.
3. The utility pole must not be on private property. If the utility pole is on private property please call the Department of Water and Power at 1 800 DIAL DWP for information on the Outdoor Area Lighting Program.
4. The request is to light a public right-of-way (street, sidewalk or alley).

*A new utilitarian light may require the signature of the four closest property owners to the proposed new light.

To make a request, do any of the following:
Fill in and email the application form to bslutilrequest@lacity.org
Fill in and submit an online request

Outdoor Area Lighting

To make a request, go to the Department of Water and Power website:
Request for Unmetered Service Point (arcgis.com)

This is the "DWP Portal". Under the submittal type you would just select exterior light (LADWP Outdoor Lighting Program) and fill out the rest of the information.

First time lighting system

This request is for locations without an existing street lighting system.The Improvement Act of 1911 and the Improvement Act of 1913 (state laws) provide the means through which the City government may assist property owners in obtaining community improvements, including street lighting. Learn more about the process for first time street lighting systems