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Why are the streets in Canberra so dark?

A Curious Canberran has asked: Why are the streets in Canberra so dark, even when there are streetlights?

This question could easily have come from me.

As a relative newcomer to the ACT who lives close to the city centre, I see streetlights, I see them shining but I can't see much illumination.

Why is this so in one of the world's most planned cities?

Roads ACT seemed to be the best place to ask that question.

But it's something that does not hold true across the city.

It all comes down to where you live and when your suburb was developed.

"Canberra street lighting was implemented at the time of development, so places like inner north, inner south... earlier lighting concentrated on lighting paths," Mr Gill said.

As a result, many roads in places such as O'Connor, Reid and Turner have been left literally in the dark.

"These areas are now heritage listed, so changes to ... street lighting in those areas basically needs to be guided by heritage requirements as well as technology."

Part of the answer is in the stars

But when I started asking some of my neighbours in Lyneham about the dark streets in our suburb I soon discovered that there were other factors at play.

Namely, the stars and those who observe them at Mount Stromlo Observatory.

"Stromlo started in 1911 - a few years before Canberra and it was a solar observatory," Dr Brad Tucker, an astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy said.

When staff at the observatory started working nights in the middle of the last century they quickly realised that a growing city had the potential to underdo their work.

"There were conversations between the astronomers here and the city to say 'Hey can we lower the light pollution' so we don't impact on the great work we are doing here?"

In essence, it added a unique degree of difficulty for those overseeing Canberra's growth as new streets and suburbs sprung up.

"That has been a controlling factor over time from a planning point of view," Tony Gill said.

"(It's) less (of) a challenge now as new technology provides different types of lighting that doesn't add to that pollution."

The conversations between the astronomers at Mount Stromlo and municipal authorities continue to this day.

He said it's a constant debate about getting the balance right between the research needs of scientists and the safety and security of the broader community.

"We do want people to be safe, we don't want to have it so dark that people will run into the poles."

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