Alabama Power has begun replacing old streetlights in Mobile as part of a joint project to increase neighborhood security and visibility.
Alabama Power and the city of Mobile announced in June an agreement to replace more than 20,000 streetlights with LED fixtures. The new lights are brighter and require less maintenance than the older, high-pressure sodium, mercury-vapor and metal halide streetlights.
“When we talk about public safety as our No. 1 priority, we believe that lighting has a lot to do with that,” said Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson. “This lighting is going to make a big difference.”
Under the contract with the city, Alabama Power will install the LED equipment and continue to provide maintenance, repairs and replacement service for the lights and poles. City leaders worked with Alabama Power to prioritize installations, with the initial work beginning in Africatown.
“We coordinated with Alabama Power to break up the city into a grid pattern of 16 different zones,” said Jim DeLapp, executive director of Public Works. “We started in Africatown, which is a great place to start. We wanted to make sure we started in that area first and then move into downtown and work our way through the grid.”
LED fixtures use light-emitting diodes instead of bulbs. They are more durable and last longer than traditional fixtures, in addition to providing better-quality lighting and visibility for motorists and pedestrians.
“I had an opportunity to ride through Africatown the other night and see the difference,” Stimpson said. “It’s just a real exciting thing for the entire city of Mobile.”
The city of Mobile joins a growing list of cities and counties in Alabama working with Alabama Power on LED lighting upgrades. Similar projects are underway in Birmingham and Montgomery.
“This lighting project is so important because it benefits the communities we serve,” said Patrick Murphy, vice president of Alabama Power’s Mobile Division. “It’s more modern, brighter and people feel safer in their communities. Anytime we can partner on something like this that improves the communities, we’re all for it.”
Stimpson said he’s appreciative of Alabama Power’s efforts to turn this project into a reality.
“We’ve had a long relationship with Alabama Power, and we’ve collaborated on so many projects,” Stimpson said. “When I was told we may have an opportunity to participate in this, from a public safety perspective, it was going to be a huge plus across the city. I’m grateful to them.”
The Mobile project is expected to take about 18 months to complete.
“We’ve already got Alabama Power teams working with the city to visit all of our parks and not only convert the lights that are already there but also assess areas where we don’t have enough lighting from a security standpoint,” DeLapp said.
To learn more about LED lighting from Alabama Power, go to www.alabamapower.com and search for “LED lighting.
(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)
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