New lights for Ash, Slocumb streets
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on February 21, 2016 1:45 AM
Drivers traveling Ash Street and Slocumb Street will notice a marked difference this week.
Duke Energy and the city have begun replacing old sodium vapor lightbulbs on the thoroughfares with LED lights, illuminating the areas with brighter light and cutting operating costs by 75 percent on average.
Work on replacing the lights began last week, and the two streets will be completed at different times.
The street lights being replaced on Ash Street will be completed by March 4, while the lights being replaced on Slocumb Street will be replaced by March 11.
The scope of work on Slocumb Street spans from Ash Street to the back gate of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base at the end of the street. Street lights on Ash Street will be replaced in their entirety, from where the street intersects with U.S. 117 and U.S. 70.
No street lights will be replaced in the county, as the scope of work ends in the city limits.
This applies to future work to be done, as if this project is well-received by the community then all street lights in the city will be upgraded from sodium vapor light bulbs to LED bulbs.
On Ash Street, the bulbs being used in the replacement will be 150 series bulbs.
On Slocumb Street, they will be 105 Series bulbs.
The difference lies in the number of lumens in the bulb, with 150 being brighter than 105.
"This is a trial run we're doing on Ash and Slocumb Street, and we're going to see what feedback we get form the community and if people say the 105 bulbs aren't satisfactory then we will upgrade the Slocumb Street lights to 150 series bulbs," said Public Works Deputy Director Rick Fletcher.
A total of 217 lights are being replaced -- 173 on Ash Street, and 44 along Slocumb Street. Duke Energy is working with contractors to replace the light fixtures, as the city does not own the street lights that will be replaced on Ash Street.
The majority of the city's street lights currently in operation are 22,000 lumen sodium vapor lights, and through the replacement effort are being cycled out in favor of the LED lights, which are mercury free.
Fletcher said doing this saves money, brightens streets at night and is more environmentally friendly than the old sodium vapor lights.
The total upgrade cost for the lights is $10,550, and there will be a cost-savings for the city of $4,601 annually. This will allow the city to break even on the cost of replacing the lights in slightly more than two years.
The city will also be replacing many of its streetlights downtown as part of the LED replacement initiative.
The bulk of LED replacements downtown will occur on Walnut Street, city owned parking lots and in areas behind the police and fire department complex.
Lights being used in these areas have a low energy efficiency and can have steep costs to replace or repair. Lights on Walnut Street and around City Hall currently cost $19,000 per year to operate.
Switching these light fixtures to an LED equivalent is expected to save the city $14,000 per year, or 70 percent of operating costs for the lights.
Upgrading and replacing lights in this area will cost $22,000, and the city is expected to break even on that investment in slightly more than a year and a half after replacement.
The total cost of the two projects to replace light fixtures downtown, on Ash Street and on Slocumb Street will be $32,550, which will come from the city's unassigned fund balance.