Streetlights

Arlington County is implementing innovative streetlight technology with maintainable infrastructure to promote a safe and sustainable community. The Transportation Engineering and Operations Bureau is responsible for 19,000 streetlights throughout the County. We maintain 7,000 of those streetlights, with the remainder serviced by Dominion Energy or Virginia Department of Transportation.

Streetlight Management Plan

The Streetlight Management Plan (SMP) project was completed and approved by DES in March 2019. The goal of the plan was to develop guidelines and standards for the County based on the latest technology and to enhance the appearance of our streetscapes, update lighting standards and improve outage reporting. The SMP is also intended to guide County staff on the selection of future streetlight technology, optimization of maintenance, and general service delivery needs.

The core principles and standards have been adopted, including:

• Lower color temperature standard for LED lights – 3000 degrees Kelvin for residential streets, 4000 degrees Kelvin for commercial and mixed-use areas
• More choices of county-owned light styles – Carlyle in commercial areas, Cobra in residential areas
• Ownership districting – moving towards County ownership in commercial areas and Dominion Energy ownership in residential areas

For more information, visit the project website.

Report a Streetlight Outage

For all streetlight outages, call 703-228-5000 or report a streetlight outage online. You’ll need to provide the exact location of the streetlight and a pole number. A pole number typically begins with two letters. County-maintained poles are black with yellow text.

Streetlight Project

Streetlight Repair

• If the streetlight is identified as not being serviced by Arlington, we’ll report it to Dominion Energy or VDOT who will then independently investigate and repair the problem per its schedule.
• Minor repair such as bulb, fuse and head replacements typically take two to three weeks for repair if properly reported with address and pole number.
• Major repair such as conductor replacement or underground utility work may take 45 days or longer.

LED Streetlights

The County is in the process of converting all Arlington-owed streetlights to light-emitting diode (LED) technology, with approximately 85 percent of County-owned lights converted. LEDs help improve sustainability by reducing emissions and our carbon footprint. They consume 75 percent less energy and last five times longer than high-pressure sodium bulbs. These LEDs modernize our streetlight network and reduce overall maintenance and operating costs.

New Streetlight Request

There are several reasons that warrant new streetlight installation:

• Community or safety needs
• Lack of proper lighting
• Improving existing lighting
• Replacing existing pole-mounted lights

You can seek an investigation for a new streetlight by calling 703-228-5000 and supplying the following:

• Your name
• Your address
• Location for requested light(s)
• Phone numbers (daytime and evening)
• Reason for requesting streetlight(s)
• Notification of existing streetlights in the area