Conversion to LED Streetlights Has Begun for Pilot Project

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Jayne Kirkpatrick, Director, Public Affairs
Prepared by: John Boyette, Public Affairs Specialist

For more information: Dan Howe, Assistant City Manager, City of Raleigh,
919-996-3070; or Jeff Brooks, Senior Communication Specialist, Progress Energy,
919-546-4710

June 14, 2012

Conversion to LED Streetlights Has Begun for Pilot Project

The City of Raleigh and Progress Energy have begun replacing some traditional streetlights in the Capital City with light emitting diodes (LED) fixtures as part of a pilot project. The pilot project will explore how much money and electricity could be saved from converting all of Raleigh’s streetlights to LEDs and whether LEDs provide a superior quality of street lighting.

Progress Energy crews began installing the first set of LED fixtures June 12 on Gorman Street at the Faucette Drive intersection. Gorman Street from Faucette Drive to Sullivan Street is one of the five areas of the city selected for the pilot project. The other pilot areas are:

• Glascock Street from Wake Forest Road to Brookside Drive;
• Along Thorpshire Drive, Carrington Drive and Lindenshire Road in the Thorpshire Farm subdivision;
• Sunnybrook Road from New Bern Avenue to Falstaff Road; and,
• A section of South Blount Street just south of Downtown in the area of City Farm Road near Cargill Inc.

Residents and business operators in the pilot areas have been notified of the conversion to LED streetlights. To help evaluate the LED streetlights, the City of Raleigh will seek input from these residents and business operators approximately three months after the new fixtures are installed. Comments from other members of the general public also will be welcomed.

The new LED light fixtures are being mounted on the same poles as the existing streetlight fixtures. No additional streetlights are being added in the pilot areas. Installation of the LED streetlights in all five pilot areas is expected to be complete in early July.

 LED streetlights are currently being used in some areas of Downtown and along Hillsborough Street from Oberlin Road to Gardner Street. These fixtures have thus far performed well and cast an improved light compared to the high-pressure sodium fixtures they replaced.

For more information about LED streetlights in Raleigh, including the pilot project, contact Dustin Brice, senior transportation analyst with the City of Raleigh Public Works Department, at 919-996-4045 or dustin.brice@raleighnc.gov.

{NOTE: Attached are two photographs of the installation of LED streetlight fixtures on Gorman Street.}