Installation of LED Streetlights In Both Traffic Intensive and Residential Streets In A city In New

Time：2016-04-06　Hits：3140　Compile：SUNPER

A city in New Mexico has installed various brightness LED streetlights in the residential as well as in the traffic intensive streets. The main reason for this is because the LED lights are generally considered to be ideal when replacing the conventional HPS lamps due to its low maintenance and high efficiency. However, there has been some complaints concerning the installation of the bright energy saving lights in the residential areas across the US.

Las Cruces is an example of a city in New Mexico that has taken into account all the disturbing issues. They were able to come up with a compromised plan and they reported this in the Las Cruces Sun-News. On 28th March, the president of the National Public Observatory as well as Sidney Webb by the name John Gilkison together with a representative of the Astronomical Society in Las Cruces met the city officials over the issue. The city officials included David Masestas, Lisa LaRocque, Transportation Director, Willie Roman and Sustainability Officer. Other officials were Streets and Traffic Operations Administration, Traffic Operations Engineer and also the Soogyu Lee.

Las Cruce decided to install brighter LED streetlights mostly in the major streets of the city and dimmer ones in the streets of the residential areas. The city has already started the replacement of the 7,563 streetlights. They are replacing them from the streetlights to the LED ones. At the beginning, the city officials had proposed installation of the LED streetlights that would produce 4,000 lm. However, concerns were raised over the issue due to environmental impact. It was suggested that this would have led to some problems in the environment. Thus, it was declared unfit for use and hence abandoned.

In the meanwhile, the other four thousand lights on the residential streets are 3,000 lm fixtures. Although the process seems to be a compromised scheme in having the LED streetlights at various brightness levels in both the residential and municipal areas. Some people still complained that the brightness was too high still.

John Gilkison who is the president of the National Public Observatory, has done extensive research over this issue. He wrote to the city trying to express his concern. The replacement of the streetlights can significantly alter the nightscape of the city. By so doing, he can potentially create light pollution when fully replaced. His research is also based on improvement of the brightness level of the light in the residential areas. By so doing, he will be able to minimize the complaints from the residents.