The Intellistreet streetlights are going up in uptown Mount Vernon and look to be on track to be finished before Heritage Days begins.

We know it was a huge infrastructure investment in the community by Alliant Energy to try these out in our community, and it will be interesting to see how they work in the coming weeks.

The digital banners, though, are going to take a lot more to get used to. In a community that has hung banners after each festival for the one that comes next, it’s kind of hard to see multiple rotating images on the streets as you’re driving, no matter how few those banners are.

One major concern that we think needs to be looked at more closely by city and contractors is the banners closest to the First Street and Highway 1 intersection. For people who have astigmatism, those banners next to the stoplights may increase safety issues with traversing the streets east to west, especially in rainy and nighttime conditions. It makes discerning that stoplight at First Street and Hwy. 1 more difficult.

Change is always hard, though. And maybe it is something we’ll eventually get used to and are making a molehill into a mountain.

It just feels incongruous to the historic uptown that Mount Vernon has prized over the years to see those there. We know we have a potential streetscape project still on the horizon that will also have an impact to our uptown, and that the lights taken down are trying to be repurposed along trails or in other areas of the city if they can be. We understand that the chance to speak on this issue was truncated, that this is a pilot program and we will be providing information to Alliant Energy on our usage of this new infrastructure that may be available for future communities. And it is not a small donation to our community, to have these lights here.