520 Bridge Lght Shields Recently Installed On Shared Use Bike Path, Helping Dim Bright Lights Impacting Residents

WSDOT picture taken recently

WSDOT bridge cameras earlier in the year, 

note reduction in intensity

A small working group of concerned neighbors has been working for many months with WSDOT's 520 Bridge Project Team on the issue of the overly bright SR520 bridge lights and solutions on dimming them. 

The group has also been working with Representatives Farrell and Pollett as well as Senator Frockt and representatives of the 46th District.

In March, the group provided an update as well as a presentation of the lighting impacts, key issues and concerns, as well as WSDOT activity regarding the issue. And in June the group met again and received updates on the efforts to dim the lights.
Steve Murch, one of the neighbors dedicating many hours to the project  provided this update:

WSDOT reports that they have installed all the 520 bridge light shields on the shared use bike path,  (which WSDOT calls the “Regional Shared Use Path, or RSUP.  With the bright moon recently, it's a bit harder to see the difference than it will be on cloudier nights, especially with respect to glare on the surface of the lake. But it does seem that the difference is already clearly visible when comparing path lights to the car headlights, especially on the eastern half of the bridge.   The bike path lights, unshielded, used to be roughly the same lumen-output as car headlights, and have quite a bit of glare to points north. Now it’s quite clear that headlights are much brighter that the lights on the eastern half of the bridge, which have the shields.   When the unshielded path lights first went live starting in April 2016, a group of concerned neighbors (Colleen McAleer, Jean Amick, James Bradburne, Katherine Burke and me) immediately began working on this issue directly with WSDOT, State legislators and the Cascade Bicycle Club.   Though it’s taken some time, the 520 team has been great about listening to input, brainstorming cost-effective solutions, and now is in the implementation phase, installing these shields. We think this is a positive step forward for the environment and reducing unnecessary light pollution for generations to come. For more information go here.