The city of Norman will receive a facelift as the city begins replacing old street lights with more efficient and durable technology.
LED lights will be used to replace the old high-pressure sodium street lights. A PowerPoint presentation shown to City Council said all of the lamps on Main Street from West of Merkle drive to University Boulevard will be upgraded to LED lights.
Shawn O’Leary, director of Public Works, said the lights will provide energy savings and last much longer. The savings in energy costs and maintenance will be between $20,000 and $25,000 per year, O’Leary said.
The LED lights are known for their energy efficiency while also improving brightness and visibility.
“LED street lights appear to be up to five times more efficient than the current high pressure sodium street lights,” O’Leary said.
The city and Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. (OG&E) are coordinating on the project. Norman’s capital cost share is approximately $50,000. O’Leary said the project will pay for itself in approximately two years.
The presentation said the project will consist of replacing 75 high pressure sodium lamps and fixtures with the new LED lights and fixtures. It will also consist of replacing 45 poles that have been damaged or run the course of their life.
The total project cost for the new LED lights and lamp poles will be $575,000.
O’Leary said the project is hopefully the first of many.
“We hope to add more LED street lights to the Norman system in the future,” O’Leary said. “However, the capital costs of doing so are very high, and we are dependent upon the power companies including OG&E and OEC (Oklahoma Electric Cooperative) to provide and maintain street lights.”
Norman has been switching to LED lights over the years, including the traffic lights across the city. O’Leary said Norman has been converting the traffic lights for almost 10 years.
“Norman was one of the first cities in Oklahoma to do so,” he said. “By 2011, we hope to have all 130 traffic signals in Norman converted to LED.”
Other cities have had problems with LED traffic lights because the lights do not generate enough heat to melt ice in bad winter weather. O’Leary said that problem is very limited in Oklahoma due to typical weather climates for the state.
The Main Street Project should be completed by spring of 2011.
City Council member Tom Kovach said City Council has been extremely supportive of the project. He said this is a win-win situation for the city of Norman. The lights will provide energy savings and longer life, with little cost to the tax payer.
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billyadams 2 years, 2 months ago
Just a note about the caption of the photo. The City of Norman, according to the story, are replacing lamps on Main Street, not on Elm Street.