Residents in West Kelowna may notice street lights in their neighbourhood getting some attention as the city undertakes its pilot project to replace a number of of regular street lights with new light emitting diode (LED) lights.
The LED streetlight pilot project will see 200 lights in a several locations around the city changed during December.
Following on the heels of a similar program in Kelowna and other cites across North America, West Kelowna expects the new LED lights to reduce electricity and maintenance costs by between 40 per cent to 60 per cent and extend the life of street lights as LEDs last15 to 20 years, compared to the current fixtures, which only last five to 10 years.
The longer life is expected to result in reduced maintenance costs of between 50 per cent to 75 per cent, says the city.
The new fixtures direct of light toward the roads and sidewalks better, with a reduction in the light spilled outside of the roadway and reflected up toward the sky meaning a reduction in light pollution.
The test locations in West Kelowna were selected for areas in different neighbourhoods, on both residential and collector roads. City staff will monitor the installations and collect feedback from residents during 2017.
The pilot project will be used as the basis for evaluating a business case for a large-scale replacement program on a city-wide basis.
In Kelowna, which has already put together its business case for LED street lights after completing a pilot project, the estimated savings over a 15 year period is $13 million.
The savings in West Kelowna are not expected to be that high as it is a smaller community with fewer street lights. West Kelowna has a total of 1,750 streetlights.
There are already some LED streetlights installed n West Kelowna, including on the upgraded portion of Brown Road in Westbank, and along the Boucherie Wine Trail upgrade. The lights are also on Highway 97 between the Glenrosa intersection and Westbank.
Residents interested in finding out if their street will see new LED lighting can visit www.westkelownacity.ca to find a map of LED locations or email roads@westkelownacity.ca.