Blog: City Blog

New LED Streetlights Installed for On-Site, Real-Time Inspection

The pilot phase of the City’s LED retrofit project is underway, with 17 intersections and stretches of roadway outfitted with new LED streetlights for project contractor Siemens, City staff and residents to analyze.

new LED Magnolia

The sleek cobra head fixtures seen here on Magnolia Avenue (left) replace fixtures up to 30 years old that are remarkably heavy and contain inefficient high pressure sodium (HPS) bulbs (right). HPS bulbs cast a dim, orangey light that seems to illuminate the air more than objects. Apparently, neighborhood starlings prefer the older model.

The whiter, clearer light of LED bulbs is designed to make objects more visible and, therefore, environments safer for drivers and pedestrians. You can see how important visibility is at busy intersections like this one at Chilhowee Drive and Asheville Highway.

Chilhowee intersection

That makes this a good location to test the LED lights in the cobrahead fixture and their effectiveness. Here's a close-up of one of the fixtures in that location:

Cobra head fixtured close up

A recent visit to these pilot locations illustrated just how much lighting products have changed in recent years. As brand new technology is implemented among old and not-so-old tech, our streets and parking lots are illuminated in a variety of shades.

New city bulb on Broadway

For example, near the Broadway and Highland Drive pilot location, you can see the difference in the old City HPS (left), an LED flood light at CVS Pharmacy (right), and the new LED street light installed across the street (below).

Woodrow and Broadway

The mix of LED bulbs on the market runs the gamut of colors a.k.a. color temperatures. The color temperature of the CVS bulb is bluer, or cooler, and would have a higher color temperature value than the City LED, which was chosen based on industry best practices.

Do you live, work or play near one of the small-scale LED demonstration areas? You can see them on the map or listed below:

• Union Avenue near Market Square
• Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue at Olive
• James White Parkway near the Hall of Fame on ramp
• Central Street at Broadway
• Gill Avenue between Gratz and Third streets
• Interstate 40 and Interstate 275 interchange
• Magnolia Avenue between Mary and Beaman streets
• Chilhowee Drive at Asheville Highway
• Chapman Highway at Woodlawn Pike
• Sequoyah Hills at Kenesaw/Keowee avenues
• Lyons View Pike at Northshore Drive
• Middlebrook Pike at Amherst Drive
• Ball Camp Pike at Bradshaw Road
• Texas Avenue between Stonewall and Sherman streets
• Cedar Lane between Parkdale and Lyndell roads
• Broadway between Woodrow Drive and Highland Avenue
• Winston Road between Kingston Pike and the I-40 overpass

Look up and see the future of street lights in Knoxville. If you have questions or comments, feel free to email [email protected].

Posted by ptravis On 21 February, 2018 at 6:40 PM