Boston says city crews upgraded a record 7,202 streetlights this year

If the light on your corner was replaced this year, you were in good company. Boston's Street Lighting Division completed 7,202 street lighting upgrades so far in 2026, nearly triple the 2,483 it finished in all of 2025, the city said in a Monday announcement. The city called it the highest annual total since 2016.

Street lighting is one of the most common requests residents make to City Hall. The division gets more than 8,000 service requests a year through 311, according to the announcement.

What the city announced

According to the city:

• Upgrades were completed in every neighborhood, on major corridors, in business districts and on residential streets.
• City crews did the work at "approximately one-third the cost of outside contractors."
• Boston has about 68,000 electric streetlights and 2,800 gas lights. The city has sped up its replacement schedule from 15 years to 10.
• The work supports a move to smart LED lights, which can be adjusted individually for brightness and timing and help reduce light pollution.
• Nine graduates of Madison Park Technical Vocational High School's electrical program now work full time in the division.

Mayor Michelle Wu said in the announcement that "quality of life in our neighborhoods depends on the quality of lighting on our streets." The city also quoted the director of the Boston Public Health Commission's Office of Violence Prevention, who said the upgrades help keep residents safe.

What our records show

Street lighting money runs through two kinds of votes the City Council takes.

• Capital plan: At a May 4 Ways and Means budget hearing, a Streets Cabinet official presenting the capital plan said street lighting repairs and replacements, including fixtures and poles, account for about $30 million over the next five years (watch at 18:28). The same presentation put roadway resurfacing and reconstruction at about $750 million, half the cabinet's capital plan.
• Equipment financing: On June 24 the council gave final approval to an order letting the city enter lease-purchase agreements of up to $28.5 million in fiscal 2027 for equipment across departments. The list includes "street lighting installation," along with vehicles, ambulances, firefighting equipment, school buses and parking meters (docket 0740). The vote was 11-1, with City Councilor Julia Mejia voting no and City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata absent. The order had first passed on June 3, and its full list of uses appears in the order.

The announcement did not say how much this year's upgrades cost in total or which budget line paid for them.

What's next

Report a dark or damaged streetlight through BOS:311. The city says knocked-down poles get 24-hour emergency response. Councilors will see the next capital plan with the mayor's fiscal 2028 budget in the spring.