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Pittsburgh
is considering the replacement of its 40,000 street lights with LED
fixtures, according to a news report in the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette.
The city estimates it could save up to upwards of $1.4 million a
year in energy and maintenance costs, and “look nicer.”
Next month the city expects to invite firms to submit ideas for a
pilot transformation of some portion of the city's street light system
to one of several available technologies, including LED, although other
efficient technologies have not been ruled out.
Public Works Director Guy Costa said the city spends around $4
million a year powering and maintaining its lights, and figured the
city could shave $1.4 million from that total.
Council officials debated how to select a vendor for the work, which
could involve a $25 million contract, through a competitive bidding
process.
Meanwhile in California, San Jose is looking to replace its 62,000
streetlights with new LED versions that will “cast a white, warm glow,
could cut energy costs in half, and will use state-of-the-art
technology to vary their intensity and timing,” according to the Mercury
News.
For decades, says the article, San Jose
motorists, pedestrians and police have complained about the city's
thousands of yellow streetlights, which are too easily confused with
traffic signals, and distort the colors of cars and painted curbs.
San Jose plans to
convert 100 lights this spring, and is seeking $20 million from a
government stimulus package to install 20,000 new lights as part of a
project that officials think will attract national attention. The goal
is to have all the city's streetlights changed by 2022.
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