The Challenge: Modernizing a Historic Downtown

Concord is a rapidly growing city with a rich history rooted in agriculture and textiles. With growth, it has faced the challenge of evolving its downtown from a historic bedroom community to a City focused on distribution, manufacturing, and tourism. The City’s Downtown Master Plan, adopted in 2016, identified the streetscape as a catalytic project, essential for sending a positive signal to the private market and incentivizing new businesses, particularly outdoor cafes, to add life to the downtown, especially after dark. The goal of the project was to enhance pedestrian comfort, increase foot traffic, and improve overall aesthetics while preserving the City’s charming small-town feel and historic identity. Obsolete existing light poles and bases needed to be removed and replaced with a system that could meet aesthetic and advanced technological demands. McGill’s landscape architects identified lighting as a key component of the streetscape design and suggested adding festoon lighting (strings of globes or light bulbs hung from posts or beams) as a charming and effective way to enhance the pedestrian experience.

Our Solution: State-of-the-Art Electrical Infrastructure

McGill designed state-of-the-art electrical infrastructure that integrated smart technology with aesthetic appeal, addressing Concord’s need for modernization and community enhancement. The solution centered on the installation of 24 new smart light poles across the downtown area. These poles incorporate the IntelliStreets system, which utilizes LED luminaires with a 910 fitter and IntelliStreets capabilities. The Intellistreets system offers a comprehensive suite of features embedded within or adjacent to the luminaires, which are designed to create a dynamic urban environment:

• Advanced Lighting Control: The LED luminaires are dimmable and feature a concealed wireless mesh dual radio controller. This allows for energy management through ambient light sensing, power monitoring, and programmed dimming presets based on daily, weekly, or monthly schedules. The system also includes thermal sensors for auto-dimming at high temperatures and supports “over-the-air” programming for software upgrades.
• Integrated Audio System: Each smart pole is equipped with a concealed, 360-degree, weatherproof speaker/driver. This sophisticated audio system enables “dial-up” announcement capabilities, instant stored message playback, music streaming, and the delivery of emergency, advertising, and community messages, all manageable through playlists and “over-the-air” uploads.
• Enhanced Safety and Communication: Three “Push Blue” emergency call stations are integrated into the light poles to offer hands-free, bi-directional communication via the powerful speakers. When the button is pushed, the notification light flashes, the luminaire turns brighter, and a speaker announces that security has been notified and the area is being recorded. The caller can then speak to first responders until the first responder terminates the call. For emergency evacuation routing, a concealed and integrated software-selectable four-color, LED indicator/strobe provides synchronized, runway-style sequencing. During critical situations, the poles can relay vital information by displaying visual cues and issuing audio alerts to pedestrians and motorists.
• Digital Signage: The poles can host LED banners capable of full-color, full-motion video playback for messages and street signs. The City of Concord chose to install 3 digital banners and a digital kiosk. Downtown banners and the kiosk are great ways to communicate to visitors about community events, initiatives, and the City’s history. These banners can be changed easily and at no extra cost, unlike fabric banners.
• Staying Connected: The system incorporates concealed Wi-Fi antennas (for dual-band, dual-concurrent 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi with MU-MIMO support). It also includes sensor inputs for environmental, weather, or security features, as well as relay trigger controls for GFCI receptacles and flood lights. This also allows the City to offer public Wi-Fi.

What We Look for in Electrical Streetscape Components: Aesthetics. Durability. Location.

• Aesthetics: When selecting components for a streetscape, our electrical team looks for durable components that are aesthetically pleasing and fit the community’s image. The luminaires had to match the City’s image, which is based on its history. The electrical scope also included placing new transformer/panel boards, tree and accent lighting, and power supply for irrigation controllers to ensure a complete and seamless upgrade. As much as possible, we made sure that these components blended into the streetscape and met durability expectations.
• Durability: The light poles are durable, all-aluminum construction of various types designed to blend with the streetscape. Concord staff were worried about having outlets on the ground. Based on their experience, ground outlets are likely to get damaged and eventually have trouble with water infiltration. It may be five to ten years down the road, and at that point, they often have trouble finding parts and replacements. We suggested the use of Gard-N-Posts, which raise and enclose the outlets in a weatherproof-in-use cover.
• Convenience: Power also has to be convenient. The City wanted power to be available for two stage locations, up to four food trucks, street tree lighting (with the capacity to hold up to 800 bulbs), and sidewalk vendors, which required setting up additional outlets about every 40 feet. The design called for approximately 40 GFCI receptacles and six 240V receptacles.

The Results: A Vibrant, Connected, and Safe Downtown

McGill’s thoughtful design for the streetscape lighting is a cornerstone of Concord’s revitalized downtown. It contributes to the City’s vision of being a great place to live, work, and play. The improvements have already started bringing in more foot traffic and breathing life back into downtown, which fulfills a key objective of the streetscape project. The new smart light poles with their advanced features support:

• 

  Enhanced Public Experience: The decorative lighting and speakers create an inviting atmosphere for nighttime events and outdoor dining, which fosters a lively downtown environment. The digital banners offer a modern platform for civic information and community messages. With the GFCI receptables installed throughout, the street is ready to host events.

• Lighting as Public Art: McGill and the City selected to hang festoon lighting between visually interesting lit towers to draw attention to a pedestrian crossing area in the downtown. This tower lighting enhances the space by using color changing software for facade floodlighting and parade lighting.
• Improved Safety and Security: The two-way, Push Blue emergency call stations and integrated cameras provide critical public safety features, assisting municipalities and institutions in protecting citizens and infrastructure.
• Seamless Connectivity: The concealed Wi-Fi antennas provide a high-performance network, enabling smart city applications and public access to internet services.
• Sustainability and Efficiency: The LED luminaires, with advanced dimming and energy management capabilities, ensure efficient operation, which aligns the project with modern sustainability goals.

By providing this cutting-edge streetscape lighting infrastructure, McGill has helped Concord establish a vibrant, technologically advanced, and safe downtown that honors its history while embracing its future. This project serves as a prime example of how integrated, intelligent streetscape design can significantly enhance community life and economic vitality.

Our team enjoys helping communities with lighting projects. You can read more about our electrical engineering services.