Sidewalks & Street Lights

The Community owns and maintains a system of sidewalks which provides a safe area for pedestrians. These sidewalks have been built over the years through a variety of means of funding. Some have been constructed through our own budget, some through assistance from infrastructure programs and some through full funding by the Federal and Provincial Governments (i.e. the sidewalk built the full length of Dalton Avenue).

As of November, 2009, we have 6550 meters of sidewalk, broken down as follows:

The Community’s Maintenance Department cleans the sidewalks in the Spring after the ice and snow melt away. This debris is picked up by the Department of Transportation when they complete the spring cleaning of streets. The Community appreciates this service provided by the Provincial Government.

Minor repairs are completed under routine maintenance. The council is constantly reviewing the need for repairs, replacement and new sidewalk construction.

Tignish has a system of streetlights that provides security lighting for pedestrians as they walk on the sidewalks and streets. The streetlights also shed some light on the streets making it safer for vehicular traffic.

Over the years the number of streetlights has increased to the present 118 lights. The breakdown of these lights shows, 83 – 70 watt High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights; 15 – 100 watt HPS lights; 1 – 150 watt HPS light; 4 – 250 watt HPS lights and 15 – 125 watt Mercury vapour lights.

The cost to provide these 118 streetlights and the rental of three (3) poles varies slightly from month to month.
To provide the above, the power bill for the month of October, 2009 was $1729.52.

The streetlight system is spread around the Community in such a way as to light up the sidewalks and streets as best we can with an eye to keeping the cost at a reasonable level. The general policy applied to the installation of streetlights suggests that in the centre of the Community, where business is concentrated, the streetlights are installed on every second pole and sometimes on consecutive poles. Away from the centre, street lighting may be found on every second or more poles.

Residents and businesses can make requests to Council for the installations of a streetlight at a new location. Any requests should include the reasons for the light being installed. The Council will review the request and assess the need for a light in this location. The Council will notify the person making the request as to their decision.

Note that the large highway lights at the intersection of Phillip Street, Ascension Rd, Haywood Rd, and at the intersection of Dalton Ave and Conroy Rd, are provided and maintained by the Provincial Government.