If a petition signed by sixty percent of the electors of any district is filed with the county clerk of the county in which such district is located, the board of trustees of any road improvement district may contract for the installment, maintenance, and operation of road lighting systems sufficient to light any road in the district or any portion thereof when, in the judgment of the board of trustees, the lighting of such road or any portion thereof is in the interest of public safety. The cost of installing, maintaining, and operating such road lighting systems shall be levied as a special assessment against the real property specially benefited thereby in proportion to the benefit received. No such special assessment shall exceed thirty-five cents on each one hundred dollars upon the taxable valuation of such property.