New lights in the Village may help increase safety and energy efficiency.
The Village Promenade’s construction company, Investment Property Advisors, plans to replace and install 43 new, LED streetlights in the Village area, said Todd Donati, director of the Muncie Redevelopment Commission.
Most of the lighting will surround the new apartment complex and commercial building as well as University Avenue. An additional 10 streetlights will be built along Dicks Street and McKinley Avenue.
In a meeting last week, the Muncie Board of Works and Public Safety approved the request.
Seth Cooke, construction site manager for The Village Promenade, said he could not comment on the project at this time because it is too early.
Bryan Kubel, Student Government Association safety chair, has tried to increase lighting off campus and said he thinks new Village lighting will increase safety.
He also expressed a more broad concern for off-campus safety as a whole.
“In most of the neighborhoods off campus, there are mainly lights just at street corners,” Kubel said. “We’d like to see them in between.”
He said during this term of SGA, it has put up lighting on Martin Street between University and Riverside avenues.
Additional legislation passed that asked the university to start replacing all burned out lights on campus with LEDs, which are brighter and more energy efficient than the current bulbs, he said.
Gene Burton, University Police Department chief, said he did not know what the new lighting in the Village would do for safety.
“At this time, there isn’t enough information to render a proper opinion on what safety will be like after construction,” he said.
Temporary lighting will be in place during construction until IPA installs the permanent lights.
Donati said the long-term plan for expanding off-campus lighting will coincide with its plan to expand Jackson Street by adding an 8-foot wide bike lane.
In addition, the Muncie Redevelopment Commission plans on creating a bike trail that would run from University Avenue to West White River Boulevard and will use the same lights as those in The Village.
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