Boston’s Street Lighting Division has completed 7,202 street lighting upgrades so far in 2026, Mayor Michelle Wu’s office announced on Monday, Oct. 26. The city says that is nearly triple the 2,483 upgrades finished in all of 2025 and the highest yearly total it has recorded since 2016, with more than two months of the year still left.
The announcement came at an event where Wu joined residents, city officials and Public Works staff. According to the City of Boston, the work was done by city crews at roughly one-third of what outside contractors would have charged, and upgrades have reached every Boston neighborhood, including major transportation corridors, business districts and residential streets.
What the data shows on Boston street lighting upgrades
The jump is large by any measure. Going from 2,483 upgrades to 7,202 is an increase of 4,719, or about 190%, based on TBR calculations from the city’s figures. Put another way, the 2026 total is 2.9 times the 2025 total, and it covers only about 10 months.
The city puts its network at roughly 68,000 electric streetlights and 2,800 gas lights, about 70,800 fixtures in all. On that base, this year’s 7,202 upgrades touch roughly 10% of the system, according to TBR calculations. That share matches the city’s stated plan: Boston has shortened its replacement cycle from 15 years to 10 years, which works out to about one-tenth of the fixtures each year. The 2025 pace of 2,483 would have covered only about 3.5% of the network.
Why the city says lighting matters for safety
City officials tied the upgrades to public safety. “Quality of life in our neighborhoods depends on the quality of lighting on our streets,” Wu said in the city’s release, adding that Boston is “upgrading more light fixtures throughout every neighborhood on a faster replacement schedule and with lower costs.”
Isaac Yablo, director of the Boston Public Health Commission’s Office of Violence Prevention and senior advisor for community safety, said in the release that “strategic investments in our built environment, specifically street lighting, are good for our neighborhoods, keep our residents safe and help prevent violence.” The city says it has worked with residents on targeted upgrades in key corridors to improve visibility and help prevent nighttime crashes.
The upgrades are part of the city’s move to smart LED fixtures, which can be adjusted one by one for brightness and timing and are meant to reduce light pollution, the city said.
What the Street Lighting Division does beyond upgrades
The division also handles more than 8,000 Boston 311 service requests a year about street lighting problems, according to the city. It provides around-the-clock emergency response when poles are knocked down, and each winter its staff string and light more than 50 holiday trees around the city.
“Their commitment to maintaining and upgrading the city’s street lighting infrastructure has been instrumental in achieving this milestone,” said Mike Donaghy, superintendent of the Street Lighting Division.
A hiring pipeline from Madison Park
The city also highlighted a partnership with the electrical program at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury. Nine graduates of that program have become full-time employees of the Street Lighting Division, according to the city. Livingston Williams of Madison Park said in the release that the partnership has created “valuable opportunities for our students to apply their technical training and build careers in the electrical trade.”
How to report a broken streetlight
Residents can report an outage or a damaged pole through Boston 311, online, by app or by calling 311. For more City Hall decisions, see our Boston City Hall tracker, which follows City Council votes and mayoral actions. Upcoming public meetings and neighborhood events are listed in our Boston events calendar.
The city did not release a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown or a dollar total for the 2026 work in its announcement. The Boston Report will add those figures if the city publishes them.
Sources
- City of Boston: Mayor Michelle Wu Announces Record Year for Street Lighting Upgrades Citywide (Oct. 26, 2026)
- City of Boston: Public Works Department
- City of Boston: Boston 311
Additional sources
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