Seattle City Light crews have installed LED streetlights in Belltown and the Central District to test their use on arterial streets.
In Belltown, the LEDs are located on 2nd Avenue between Wall and Lenora Streets and in the Central District. On Cherry Street the LEDS will be installed between 23rd Avenue E and Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. Crews expect to complete the Central District installations next week.
These are the first LEDs to be installed on arterial streets in Seattle. The pilot project will allow the utility and the public to see how well they perform before deciding whether to expand their use.
City Light started installing LEDs in residential areas in July. The utility will install 5,000 LED streetlights this year and a total of 40,000 during the next five years.
LED streetlights last three times longer than the current high pressure sodium lights and use about 40 percent less energy. Once all 40,000 are installed, City Light expects savings of $2.4 million per year.
Previous LED pilot projects in Capitol Hill, South Park and West Seattle were widely supported by the community. Surveys in those neighborhoods found support for the LEDs by about 85 percent of respondents.