Connecticut DOT Switching to LED Street Lights

The Connecticut Department of Transportation said changing streetlights over to LED’s is not like just replacing a light bulb because usually the pole, the control box, the foundation, and miles of underground wires also need to be replaced.

With just the fixture at the top of a streetlight costing $600 the Connecticut DOT has shared with the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters it has begun making the switch in phases, including a stretch of Rt. 8 in Seymour. Kevin Nursick with the CT DOT said, "You're certainly talking more than ten years out before the entire state is converted."

The first reason the DOT will take more than a decade to switch out 30,000 streetlights: the upfront cost, explains Nursick. “We're talking tens and tens of millions, dare I say, potentially could approach $100 million mark, something along those lines."

Beyond that, DOT engineers must meet demanding federal highway standards when it comes to lighting. Doing it incorrectly could have fatal consequences. Nursick explains just a fraction of what goes into determining the location, "Measurements, geometries, crash data, special roadway features, these are things that we're looking at."

For now the DOT has targeted streetlights where simply switching out a conventional bulb to an LED fixture will not change how the road is lit, along with roads where streetlights have hit the end of their 40 year lifespan.

By the end of the year the DOT estimates it will have 2,500 LED lights installed on our roads.

Lisa Bartlett of Wallingford welcomes anything that lowers state expenses.

“I do think it's a good investment. Because over time it is going to save a lot of money. You sometimes have spend money, to save money, over time."

The DOT said powering streetlights right now costs about $3.5 million per year and going to LED's cuts the annual bill in half.

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