Skip to main content

New York’s Central Avenue to trial LED street lights

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) are to install LED street lights on a section of Central Avenue in Colonie, Albany County, in a bid to enhance visibility and safety, as well as reduce energy costs.
July 12, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
RSS

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the 1780 New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) are to install LED street lights on a section of Central Avenue in Colonie, Albany County, in a bid to enhance visibility and safety, as well as reduce energy costs.
 
The new lighting, which supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) strategy, is part of a demonstration project bringing together industry, government agencies, not-for-profits and academic organisations to develop a systematic strategy to transition street lights to energy-saving LED lighting throughout New York State.
 
Installations are scheduled to start this fall on the US$300,000 project, which is being supported by NYSDOT State Planning and Research funds. Once completed, the average light level along this section of the street is expected to increase by about 35 to 40 per cent, enhancing safety by making pedestrians more visible.
 
Lessons learned from the project will be documented in a report that will demonstrate how local and state agencies and utilities can best coordinate to convert their existing roadway lighting to LED lighting.

Related Content

  • August 2, 2012
    US transportation policy needs to restart to sort shortcomings
    Joshua Schank has no illusions when it comes to what he and the Bipartisan Policy Center are suggesting in Performance Driven: New Vision for US Transportation Policy. Released in June of this year, this major report (see Sidebar, 'The Shift in Thinking') advocates no less than a root-and-branch overhaul of the way in which the US transportation system is run - how money is allocated and how the beneficiaries of that funding are selected. As its name suggests, Schank and his colleagues are urging senior US
  • December 5, 2013
    New York Thruway installs LED signs to alert wrong-way drivers
    New York’s state Thruway Authority has installed Doppler radar-enhanced LED signs to alert wrong-way drivers before they enter exits in Buffalo and Nyack, Rockland County, where wrong-way derivers have been involved in crashes. The radar can detect vehicles travelling the wrong way, setting off the LED sign and alerting the rest of the Thruway system. “New York is the first state in the nation to utilise this sophisticated technology to enhance traffic safety and save lives,” Governor Andrew Cuomo sai
  • October 3, 2014
    IBTTA commends new report on infrastructure planning
    The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) has responded to the joint report by the Eno Center for Transportation and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which highlights the benefits of life cycle cost analysis in planning transportation infrastructure projects. Executive director and CEO Pa trick D. Jones said: “We commend ENO and ASCE for issuing an important report, Maximizing the Value of Investments Using Life Cycle Cost Analysis. This report is especially timely
  • June 5, 2015
    The red light camera choice: 60 killed or save US$231 million a year
    David Crawford investigates new cost-benefit analysis of red light cameras. US states can now realistically calculate the economic benefits of using red light safety cameras, alone or in combination with other measures, to cut road traffic accident levels. The results could be of material value in making the case for the cameras as a number of state legislatures continue to debate their acceptability.