The Town of Arlington is proud to announce a plan is in place to convert our existing public streetlight fixtures to energy efficient, light emitting diode (LED) fixtures. The new LED streetlights will result in substantial energy savings to the Town, while also helping our environment and enhancing public safety on our streets. Work is expected to begin on Monday, March 4th.
LED lights use significantly less energy than our current fixtures and can last up to 25 times longer. This means lower energy bills for the Town and fewer maintenance calls for individual lights.
LED lights also improve illumination, which enhances safety – the main purpose of streetlights. LEDs provide a crisp light that improves visibility and color rendition, making it easier for drivers to spot pedestrians or other objects in the roadway. In addition, they can produce light which can be directed onto specific areas, like the street. Most development projects in Town have used them in their parking lots for years.
In an effort to balance energy efficiency and safety—the Town has selected warmer, 3000 Kelvin LED lights (same as the cities of Collierville and Bartlett). Although they are slightly less efficient than the typical 4000 Kelvin LED streetlight, the 3000 Kelvin lights have less of the blue light people are sensitive to at night, will reflect and scatter less, and will appear less bright than 4000 Kelvin lights.
The project is a partnership between Arlington, MLGW, and Ameresco (streetlight vendor who will oversee installation). MLGW stated its efforts to make the same conversion of streetlights in Memphis resulted in less energy use after only 65 percent of their streetlights were substituted.