Mayor outlines LED streetlight plan: lower lumens in residential areas, more conversions to follow
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Summary
Mayor Starr told councilors the city will replace sodium/mercury streetlights with LEDs as bulbs reach end of life, using 5,000-lumen fixtures in residential neighborhoods to reduce glare while using higher-lumen LEDs at intersections and commercial corridors. He said 65 fixtures have been converted so far and 30 of those are 8,000-lumen lights.
Mayor Starr updated the Mount Vernon City Council on Sept. 8 about the city’s streetlight conversion plan, saying the city will replace older sodium and mercury vapor bulbs with LED fixtures as the older lamps fail.
The mayor said the replacement approach will be calibrated by location: residential areas will receive the lowest practical lumen level, a 5,000-lumen LED, to avoid bright light bleeding into homes; intersections and higher-traffic areas will receive higher-lumen LEDs (the 8,000-lumen fixtures are already in use at some intersections), and major corridors where more lighting is needed will receive larger fixtures.
He told councilors the city has a total of about 1,600 street lights and that 65 have been converted to LEDs so far, 30 of which are 8,000-lumen fixtures used mainly at intersections. The mayor said the conversion is intended to improve energy efficiency and reduce unwanted glare in neighborhoods.
Why it matters: Changing to LEDs can reduce maintenance and energy costs and allow the city to tailor light levels by context. City staff will continue to work with AEP and follow a phased replacement schedule as older fixtures fail.
What was not resolved: No budget line-item or specific per-unit cost was confirmed during the meeting; the mayor described relative costs and lumen levels but did not provide a definitive per-unit annual cost in the legislative discussion.