Nanaimo launching switch to LED streetlights

Nanaimo motorists will be seeing more clearly once 420 new LED streetlights are installed by the end of February.

The goal of the project is to improve road safety along arterial streets where crashes have occurred and reduce electrical use with long-lasting light-emitting diode fixtures.

Work starts on Dec. 10 to replace the high-pressure sodium street lights that cast a yellowish glow. LED fixtures cast a “significantly clearer” light, Michael Elliott, Nanaimo’s capital project management specialist, said.

“Safety improvements are pretty visible when you put them in.” Motorists can see further with LED lights, he said.

Bowen Road, Aulds Road and Terminal Avenue were chosen as locations for the new lights, following public consultation.

Nanaimo has been replacing its lights with LED since 2016, but this is the city’s first major lighting conversion project, Elliott said.

The city is spending $214,300 for the supply and installation of the light fixtures and to remodel a few poles. It cost slightly less than $10,000 for the modelling and engineering.

Money will be saved by the change.

“They take about 60 per cent less power than the HPS lights and last up to four times longer,” Elliott said.

High-pressure sodium lights last about three to five years and LEDs have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years.

Nanaimo’s 4,134 streetlights use 2,800 megawatt hours of power and cost $300,000 every year. B.C. Hydro also leases some lights to the city

If the city converted all its streetlights to LED, power savings would be $200,000 annually and maintenance costs would drop by $25,000, Nanaimo said in a statement.