If you've been out after dark you may have noticed better lighting. Anacortes has completed an ambitious program to replace all those orange street lights with white LED street lights.
This photo shows what the change looked like when Los Angeles switched to new white LED street lights as shown in the foreground with older yellow street lights in the background.
The Anacortes change cost the city about $200,000, but Russ Pittis, the city’s Resource Conservation Manager, says the city stands to save over $50,000 per year with LED lights over the older high-pressure sodium lights.
Pettis said the overhead street lights have all been replaced, but some old-fashioned street lights, like those in the downtown area may be replaced later
The conversion included new GE Evolve LED Roadway cobra heads which, according to city Public Works Director Fred Buckenmeyer, are IDA dark sky compliant. The new lighting will protect against light pollution, as recommended by the International Dark-Sky Association.
The project was undertaken by Intolight Lighting Services, a service of Puget Sound Energy, which owns and maintains the city’s street lights.
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