Sherqwan Prevost, of the Street Light Division, installed the 7,000th street light replacement this year in Codman Square on Monday. In a new twist, the city is now replacing the bulbs when they turn dim, not when they burn out. Seth Daniel photos
There are 71,502 street lights across the city of Boston. Keeping them in good working order— or replacing them when they burn out— is one of those basic services that keep workers busy year-round.
Now, Mayor Michelle Wu says, a new approach under her administration is making the never-ending task more efficient by getting ahead of complaints and burnouts.
Boston’s Street Light Division has been replacing bulbs at a new pace this year, setting what Wu says is a record for replacements —6,999 through Sunday night. Number 7,000 was replaced on Monday morning during a gathering with the mayor and other officials at the new Codman Square Park on Centre Street in Dorchester.
“Quality lighting in our public spaces makes a real difference for quality of life in our neighborhoods,” said Wu. “Starting this year, we have taken a more proactive approach to how we maintain street lights. For the first time in Boston’s history, we’re replacing them before they burn out. As they get older, they start to get dim. We’re replacing them when they are dim now.”
Mayor Michelle Wu hooked up some wiring on a street lamp while street light worker Jermany Texeira-Samedo showed her how to do it.
Roughly 2,500 lights were replaced last year. Under the new protocol— workers are out in the field installing new lights before the ten-year mark when they typically dim or burn out. In the past, the city did that on a 15-year cycle.
Wu says it’s a money-saver since the new policy is “one-third of the cost of vendors brought in as opposed to completing the work in-house.”
Part of the light-replacement surge has been completed by Madison Park Technical Vocational High School graduates, who worked as interns with the city’s Public Works Department before graduating. Starting in 2023, interns have been turning the experience into full-time jobs and Public Works has tapped into a pipeline of talent from within the city.
Jermany Texieira-Samedo and Sherqwan Prevost, two Madison Park grads, were at Monday’s event in Codman Square. They have been on the job about two years.
“I knew this was possible for me because I saw people who did it before me at Madison,” said Prevost, 21, class of 2024, who has lived in Dorchester and Mattapan. “I didn’t think, though, that I was going to be here and I ended up here and it’s great so far.
“I’m able to do things most kids my age can’t do. It’s a good thing the city gives back to young people, and we can be able to give back and serve our city with our work.”
Jermany Texeira-Samedo handed off the street lamp to Sherqwan Prevost to be installed.
Mike Donaghy, superintendent of the Street Lighting Division, said he was proud of the entire crew for working hard to replace so many streetlights and to coordinate so well in implementing the new procedure.
“This is significant because it puts us on a 10-year replacement schedule for every light in the city and that ensures they will be modern, beautiful, and efficient for years to come,” he said. “Achievements like this are only possible because of the employees that do the work. Upgrading 7,000 streetlights is no easy task.”
He added: “What I’m particularly proud of is we completed that while keeping up with our daily work and replacements, closing out more than 8,000 service calls to 311 at the same time.”
Isaac Yablo, the mayor’s senior advisor for public safety, said that investments in better lighting “correlate to increased public safety.”
The milestone on Monday closed out with Texeira-Samedo assisting the mayor in completing the wiring for the street lamp, then passing it on to Prevost, who installed it atop the light fixture at the corner of Centre Street and Talbot Avenue.
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