How High Should a Street Light Pole Be, and How Far Apart?

Street light pole height and spacing: the short answer

For a housing society, colony or campus road, a pole height of about 5 to 7 metres with poles spaced roughly 15 to 25 metres apart is a common starting point, using LED street lights in the 18W to 36W range. Wider roads and main roads use taller poles of 8 to 12 metres, wider spacing and higher wattages.

Height, spacing and wattage are linked. A taller pole spreads light over a wider circle but makes it dimmer on the ground, so it needs a more powerful fitting. Wider spacing saves poles but leaves darker patches between them. The aim is light that is even enough that a person, a pothole or a dog stands out anywhere along the road, not just under each pole.

These are rules of thumb from common practice, not a design. A public road is designed by a lighting engineer to the Indian code for public lighting, IS 1944, using the fitting’s light distribution. For a society road, a parking lane or a factory compound, the numbers below get you close enough to plan and budget. We make the LED street light fittings at our works in Marol, Andheri East, Mumbai; the pole comes from your contractor.

What is the standard street light pole height?

There is no single standard street light pole height, but common practice is around 5 to 7 metres for society roads, lanes and parking, around 7 to 9 metres for colony and town roads, and around 9 to 12 metres for wide main roads and highways, chosen with the road width and the fitting’s wattage.

As a rough guide by road type:

Society lane, parking: 5–7 m Colony road: 7–9 m Main road: 9–12 m Highway: 12 m and up

Lower poles are cheaper and easier to service: an electrician with a ladder can reach a 5 m fitting, while a 9 m pole needs a hydraulic ladder or a lift. Lower poles also keep light under trees rather than in their canopy. Taller poles light a wider road from one side and need fewer poles per kilometre.

Where a building runs alongside the road, a wall-mounted fitting on a bracket at first-floor height can replace a pole altogether. Our wall mounting brackets are covered in our flood and street light price list.

What is the spacing between street light poles?

A common rule of thumb for the spacing between street light poles is about three times the mounting height, so 6 metre poles go roughly 18 metres apart, with closer spacing where even light matters, such as at gates, speed breakers and junctions, and wider spacing of up to about four times only on quiet lanes.

Spacing too wide gives dark patches between pools of light, where eyes adjusted to the bright spots see nothing. Spacing too close wastes poles and power. Place a pole at every gate and turn first, then fill the straight runs between them at even spacing.

How many watts street light for a road?

A common starting point is 18W to 24W LED street lights for a narrow society lane on 5 to 6 metre poles, 30W to 36W for a wider society or colony road on 6 to 8 metre poles, and 50W to 100W for main roads on taller poles, with the final choice set by the road width and pole spacing.

By road, as a rough guide:

Lane, parking: 18–24W Society road: 30–36W Colony road: 36–50W Main road: 100W and up

Watts measure power, not light. Two 30W fittings can give different light depending on their efficiency, so compare lumens where the box states them; our lumens to watts guide explains the difference. A taller pole needs more wattage for the same light on the ground.

Our street lights cover this range: the standard series in 18W, 24W, 30W, 36W, 50W, 100W and the Ultra Prime series in 20W, 30W, 50W and 100W. Every price, and the cost per watt, is on our LED flood light and street light price list; we do not repeat it here.

Street lights for a society: what works?

For a housing society, the setup that works well in common practice is 5 to 6 metre poles or wall brackets along the internal road, spaced about 15 to 20 metres apart, with 18W to 30W LED street lights, extra fittings at the gate, the parking entry and any turn, and the whole set on its own MCB with a timer.

Societies are lit for safety, not speed. People walk, children cycle and cars park on both sides, so the light should reach the footpath and the parked cars, not just the middle of the road.

Points to plan: gate and security cabin parking entry and ramp compound wall run garden and play area meter room and pump room. For open areas such as parking or a play ground, a flood light on the building is often better than more poles; see how to install an LED flood light.

A society that standardises on one or two wattages needs to stock only one or two spare drivers. Our LED driver guide lists the driver bands for our street lights.

Single side, staggered or opposite: which pole layout?

A single-side layout, with all poles on one edge, suits narrow roads up to about the pole height in width; a staggered layout, alternating sides, suits roads a little wider; and an opposite layout, with poles facing each other in pairs, suits wide roads, as common practice for even light across the full width.

The three layouts:

Single side cheapest, one cable run, works when the road is no wider than the pole is tall. Staggered poles alternate left and right, giving more even light on a wider road. Opposite poles in pairs, used on wide roads and main streets. Central median twin-arm poles in the divider of a dual road.

Most society roads are single side, with the poles on the side away from the buildings so they light the footpath and the road together. A staggered layout needs cable crossing the road, which means a duct laid before the road is surfaced.

What arm length and tilt should a street light have?

A street light arm commonly holds the fitting about a quarter of the road width out from the pole, often 0.5 to 1.5 metres on society and colony roads, and the fitting is usually mounted level or tilted up by only a few degrees, because more tilt throws light sideways into windows and drivers’ eyes.

The arm, or overhang, moves the fitting out over the road so the light lands where vehicles and people are, not on the verge behind the pole. On a narrow lane a short bracket is enough; on a wide road the arm is longer.

Tilt is where many installs go wrong. A fitting tipped up to "throw light further" mainly throws glare at oncoming drivers and into upper-floor flats. Mount it as the box shows, and add a pole rather than tilting a fitting to reach a dark patch.

Check the fitting’s spigot size against the arm before ordering. Our street lights fit on an arm supplied with the pole; we do not make poles or arms.

How are street lights wired and switched?

Street lights are commonly wired from a dedicated feeder with its own MCB, through an armoured or properly protected cable laid underground or along the compound wall, to a small junction at the foot of each pole, with the lights switched by a timer or a dusk-to-dawn sensor rather than by hand.

The pieces of a typical society circuit:

Own MCB Underground cable in duct Junction at pole foot Pole earthed Timer or sensor

A metal pole must be earthed, because a damaged cable inside it can make the whole pole live where children touch it. Our how to check earthing guide covers what an electrician tests. Joints at the pole foot sit in a weatherproof box, never taped in the open. An RCCB on an outdoor lighting circuit is common practice for shock protection; we do not make RCCBs.

A street light circuit is not a homeowner job. It is designed and laid by a licensed electrician, who sizes the MCB and cable for the total load and the length of the run; our MCB for home guide explains how ratings are chosen.

What does it cost to light 100 metres of road?

Lighting 100 metres of society road with 6 metre poles at about 20 metre spacing takes six fittings, one at each end and four between, so with our 24W LED street light at ₹900 MRP the fittings cost ₹5,400, and with the 30W at ₹1,200 they cost ₹7,200, before poles, cable and labour.

Running cost is small next to the fittings: six 24W lights for 12 hours use about 1.7 units a night (6 × 24W × 12h ÷ 1,000). The poles and cable usually cost more than the lights.

Pole, bracket and driver: what do we supply?

We supply the LED street light fittings, wall mounting brackets for building-mounted lights and spare drivers, while the poles, arms, foundations and cable come from your site contractor, so a society quote has two parts: the fittings from us through a dealer, and the civil and wiring work from the contractor.

Our street lights run in two series. The standard series has 18W at ₹850, 24W at ₹900, 30W at ₹1,200, 36W at ₹1,240, 50W at ₹1,600 and 100W at ₹2,400. The Ultra Prime series has 20W, 30W, 50W and 100W. VIYONA LED 1072 is a 24W LED street light with an MRP of ₹900, and every model comes in a box of 10.

For mounting on a building we make two wall brackets: 1082 at ₹90 and the big 1083 at ₹180. Spare drivers 1043 to 1045 cover the 18W–24W, 30W–36W and 50W bands. Our catalogue does not state an IP rating for these fittings, so ask against the code before buying; our IP rating guide explains what to ask for.