Due to excessive vandalism, the city of Syracuse will replace the Connective Corridor lights along University Avenue in the coming month.

The waist-high red lights, referred to as bollards, were first damaged last May. As of October, about 19 of the 43 lights had been damaged. At that time, the Syracuse University Department of Public Safety and Syracuse Police Department began investigating the vandalism.

City officials will replace the lights with about 20, 10-foot-high red columns, which will ultimately cost $56,900. The new lights will be placed as soon as they arrive, which will be sometime this month, said Owen Kerney, deputy director of planning and sustainability for the city of Syracuse.

“We all decided that we needed a solution to the vandalism that was durable, safe and permanent,” he said. “The column lights were the best option.”

The bollards that are currently installed cost $1,100 each, in addition to the cost of labor to install them, according to an April 12 article by The Post-Standard.

Kerney said city officials discussed various options in the last few months. Rather than replace the bollards, which could be vandalized again, city officials decided to construct lights that couldn’t be damaged as easily.

In addition to being taller, the new lights will have a larger diameter than the bollards. The new lights are about 6-8 inches in diameter, while the current lights are about 3-4 inches, Kerney said. The lights will have a similar shape and color to the current lights.

There are no plans to replace other Connective Corridor lights in the city, he added.

Kerney said the lights are important to the Connective Corridor project, which looks to revitalize and connect the city to the university.

“The illumination of the lights along the Connective Corridor are used by both people in the city and university,” Kerney said. “I think everyone is excited to replace them.”

Published on April 15, 2013 at 10:54 pm

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