Community can expect project to save up to $1 million per year; minor travel impacts during conversion

Following the City of Boulder’s acquisition of 4,500 streetlights from Xcel Energy, the city is beginning to convert newly acquired public streetlights to efficient LEDs and high-quality fixtures. Construction is scheduled to begin in early March and is expected to take approximately 15 to 18 months to complete.

Travelers can expect minimal traffic impacts as work takes place, with some short-term parking and lane closures next to streetlights being converted. The city has selected Colorado Lighting, Inc. (CLI) as the installation contractor through a competitive bidding process. Work vehicles and equipment will be clearly identifiable with displayed project details and city and CLI logos.

The city will post completed conversions to the project map for the community to view progress and check if their neighborhood streetlights have been converted. While this multi-year process will convert most city-owned streetlights to LEDs, some conversions will occur later on as part of private development and separate city projects.

Work is supported by community values to responsibly steward funds in the city’s Sustainability, Equity and Resilience Framework and will help move Boulder toward its climate targets and transportation goals. The streetlight conversion will improve visibility and safety while maintaining dark skies for night-sky viewing and wildlife, improve reliability with smart lights that can self-report outages, reduce operation and maintenance costs by up to $1 million per year, and decrease the city's carbon emissions by about 1,000 metric tons annually — equivalent to removing 254 gasoline vehicles from the road.

Learn more on the project webpage.

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