The stretch of Lee Highway from Rosslyn to Courthouse may be getting brighter if the County Board approves a streetlight replacement contract.
County staff is recommending that the County Board approve a contract of over $2 million for replacing the aging lighting along Lee Highway during its meeting this coming Saturday.
“This existing infrastructure is failing and cannot be economically repaired and maintained to provide adequate and reliable lighting for all travelers in this corridor,”county staff wrote in their proposal.
If the contract is approved, American Lighting and Signalization will begin replacing the 70 existing streetlights with 270 county-standard LED streetlights in order “to enhance the safety for all roadway [and] sidewalk users,” according to county staff. The contract is for $1.87 million plus a $224,000 contingency.
“Over the years, the streetlights and associated power supply have deteriorated to the point that a full replacement [and] reconstruction is necessary. County staff found that the underground lines are in poor condition and unsafe to retrofit, as the wires are not protected in conduit,” county staff said.
The 70 streetlights were previously installed by the Virginia Department of Transportation. This time, the streetlights will be installed and paid for by Arlington.
Replacing the streetlights along Lee Highway is included in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for 2015-2024. The original budget for replacement in the CIP was for $1.5 million, and the county plans to reallocate money from other areas, including a fund for county-wide streetlight work and the county’s transportation and traffic signals program.
“The total estimated cost of this project is $2,252,133 including design, utility locating, construction and County staff charges,” county staff wrote. “The project costs are $0.75 million over the adopted budget, because the original budget was not based on any field survey information or detailed design. The contingency includes a conservative 12 percent of the contract amount to cover underground conditions that utility surveys may have missed in the complicated environment of Lee Highway adjacent to I-66.”