ALSANCAK COASTAL AXIS – REDUCED VISIBILITY AT UNLIT SIDE STREETS AFTER 21:30

Not all access points along the Alsancak Coastal Axis are equally illuminated. While commercial clusters glow with signage and façade lighting, smaller side streets between them often remain dim.

The contrast creates the risk.

Time pattern: 21:30–00:00, especially outside peak summer months.

Westbound and eastbound traffic continue at moderate night rhythm. Drivers visually anchor to bright retail nodes. Dark gaps between them receive less anticipatory attention.

A typical sequence unfolds:

Vehicle A proceeds along a well-lit segment of the coastal axis.
Ahead, a darker side street sits between two illuminated storefronts.
Vehicle B begins edging forward from that unlit side street.
Because the approach zone is light-saturated, the darker vehicle silhouette blends into background shadow.

Recognition occurs late.

Unlike steep connectors or residential exits at dusk, this exposure is not speed-based miscalculation. It is contrast imbalance. Bright commercial lighting narrows the effective visual field, reducing detection sensitivity toward darker voids.

Historically, as frontage lighting intensified in the 2010s and 2020s, illumination became uneven rather than uniformly dim. The human eye adapts to brightness levels. When transitioning from bright storefronts to darker gaps, visual adjustment lags.

Compounding this, drivers exiting unlit side streets look toward bright oncoming headlights, further reducing their own depth perception when judging gaps.

The structural seam forms under four interacting conditions:

High-contrast lighting environment
Unlit side street throat
Continuous corridor flow
Delayed silhouette recognition

The risk is not excessive speed. It is visual delay caused by illumination imbalance.

On the Alsancak Coastal Axis at night, danger does not always appear in the bright zones.

It often emerges from the dark gap between them.