City engineering not in favor of lighting Marshview/Meadow Lane; alderman cites safety and 1,150 residents

The director introduced a referral from Alderman Van Trieste to evaluate installing street lighting along Marshview Street, which becomes Meadow Lane, from Silvernail Road to Grandview Boulevard. The director said city engineering previously was not in favor of adding lighting along the corridor, citing existing lighting from adjacent businesses and apartment complexes.

The director told the meeting an engineering estimate for lighting the stretch would be “about a $155,000” project. An alderman who spoke in favor of lighting said he had raised the issue previously and emphasized safety concerns, noting new apartment buildings and roughly “1150 residents roughly” who he expects will frequent the corridor.

The director reviewed five years of crash data for the corridor and reported three crashes in that stretch: a vehicle slid on ice into another vehicle during daylight, a hit-and-run incident where a southbound vehicle struck a parked car (reported near 9 p.m. or 7 p.m.), and a crash in November where a medical emergency caused a vehicle to hit a parked car (around 9 p.m.). When asked, the director said a lumen (lighting) study had not been completed.

No formal decision or vote appears in the transcript. Staff and the alderman framed the discussion as weighing engineering’s current recommendation against residents’ safety concerns and new development in the area; the item will remain under consideration pending further analysis.