Welland is setting an environmental example

[rick]

LED streetlights are one way cities, towns and regions can act on climate change

St. Catharines Standard

When night falls, 11 Niagara municipalities, plus the regional government, should cast their gaze upon Fitch Street in Welland.

There, they will find a dazzling row of streetlights. The street is still illuminated, but the lights are using much less electricity - and sucking up less money.

Unlike the traditional streetlights we see throughout our urban areas, since October light-emitting diodes have been casting their glow on Fitch Street.

It's a pilot project thus far, but early reviews have been positive. The city and Welland Hydro like what they've seen, and the effort has gained the approval of Peter Love, Ontario's chief conservation officer.

In a visit to Welland earlier this week, Love said Fitch Street is the first in Canada, perhaps even the world, to be lit with LEDs.

"You've made a great step forward," Love said during his stop.

Indeed the city has.

LEDs use less than half the electricity of a standard streetlight, and last about three times as long.

Welland city officials estimate converting the entire city to LED streetlights could save nearly half of the city's the annual $350,000 hydro bill for streetlights, and there will be additional savings because the city won't have to replace the bulbs as often.

Installing the lights on Fitch cost $41,000.

Welland has also converted its stoplights to LEDs.

In this day of continually rising property taxes and increasing burdens on home and business owners, any savings are welcome.

That these savings also benefit the environment is an added bonus.

Climate change is the political buzzword of the day. Governments of all levels are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

Converting streetlights to LEDs is just one example of how cities, towns and regions can do their part in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

That Welland is embarking on this pilot project - it is currently soliciting feedback from the public - is something the rest of Niagara, if not the entire country, should welcome.

If the lights work in Welland, there is no need for every other municipality to repeat the same test - LEDs should work in any urban setting.

The upfront costs can be tempered by grandfathering the installation of LEDs. With each road reconstruction, make sure the new light standards are LEDs.

As lights need to be replaced, do it with LEDs.

We're living in a new world that requires new ways of thinking and acting.

By using LED streetlights, Welland is putting action behind its words, and is leading by example.

Individuals and other municipalities would be wise to follow.

[bigugli]

One small step today. Another tomorrow. Over time the message will sink in, and change will take place.

30 years ago I would have never thought that the water quality in Lakes Ontario and Erie could ever improve. It just takes time.

[NIAGARA RAINBOW]

It's a good start but you might as well turn the lights off and save even more cause there useless, I can't see a thing when it's dark. I live right off of Fitch.

[Flywire]

Light streets with those damn "euro lights" things are so bright you would need 1 per street and still be blinded....

This is like the notion of the LED flashlights, alright so the battery lasts forever but they cant light a thing