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The municipality of Gladsaxe replaced the standard street lighting with red LED lights, more suited to the needs of the local bat population, creating a harmonious human-environmental interaction.
The goal was to implement a lighting solution for the road and the bicycle paths, ensuring the lowest possible impact on the living conditions for the bats in a nearby colony, and other animals and insects which share the environment. The road and pathway infrastructure still had to maintain a certain level of lighting to ensure safety and security for the users, whilst balancing this with the environmental demands.
Scientific research on the biological impact of lighting was reviewed, as well as briefings carried out with biologists. In this way, a compromise could be found between the needs and demands of the bats and the communities who share their environment.
The research found that red is the least disruptive form of artificial lighting, which also allows people to go about their business in the dark with minimal impact on their ability to maintain comfortable nighttime eyesight and awareness. The lighting is projected from an installation of 30 bollards of 1 meter height, spaced with a 30 meter distance between them. By placing the bollards far apart, corridors of almost complete darkness are created, which supports the movements of light-shy species, without them being exposed by artificial lighting as prey.
Despite the distance between bollards, ample lighting is still provided for the bicycle pathways. Where cyclists and pedestrians need to cross the road, 12 higher poles of 3.5 meters in length have been placed to create a change in the environment, which helps improve awareness and increase safety in these specific areas.
The municipality made an effort to inform its citizens about and explain the new street lighting system and its purpose through local media, as well as in discussions on social media.
