Wichita Falls, Texas - The orange glow from street lights in downtown Wichita Falls will soon be a thing of the past.
City councilors recently approved the purchase of nearly $200,000 worth of LED street lights.
Crews installed one at 8th and Lamar to test it out and it received a glowing approval from city traffic officials.
"It's a whiter, brighter light so it makes it easier to see. It's a very energy efficient light source so in most cases we will save 40 up to 60 percent, depending on how we set the lights up," says Mark Beauchamp, traffic superintendent for the City of Wichita Falls.
Mark Beachamp says LED lights from a different company have already been installed along Southwest Parkway and are saving the city thousands each month.
"We're averaging savings right now on what we've done, between 18,000 and 20,000 a month," Beauchamp says.
While these lights are expected to save the city even more once installed, Beauchamp says each fixture does come with a high price tag-- $500.
It's about $300 more than the current high pressure sodium street lights, but Beauchamp says the 10 year warranty of the LED Lights will quickly make up for the cost.
"That's put it up and forget about it for ten years, whereas the existing high pressure sodium lights, we visit them about every three years to replace lamps. So, in reality, we're looking at a minimum of ten years. They say the actual lifespan is closer to 15 to 20," says Beauchamp.
Crews are expected to start installing the new lights and officials say you can expect to see the entire downtown area shining bright with the new LED lights by the end of the this summer.
