Streetlight Replacement Project Interactive Map
The City's Public Works Department and Tacoma Public Utilities worked together on a joint initiative to replace approximately 75% of Tacoma’s aging streetlights with new, energy efficient LED fixtures.
Nearly 75 Percent of Tacoma's Streetlights have been Replaced with LEDs
As part of this project, approximately 75% (16,000 light fixtures) of all Tacoma area overhead streetlights were upgraded to energy-efficient LED lights. The existing fixtures, which were high-pressure, sodium accounted for 83% of the total energy used by all streetlights in the city.
Not every streetlight in the city was upgraded as part of this project. The majority of the fixtures replaced were either “cobra head” or “shoe-box” style (pictured below). Ornamental, flood and wall pack lights will not be converted to LEDs at this time.
Project Fact Sheet (printable PDF)
To report a streetlight outage call
Lights to be Replaced
New Lights
Project Timeline
- Installation started in December of 2017. Work finished in October of 2018, three months ahead of schedule and 2 million dollars under budget.
Implementation Schedule and Interactive Map
An interactive map allowed searching by address to find when (or if) streetlights were scheduled for replacement.
Preliminary versions of the project schedule and maps are available below for anyone unable to access the interactive map above.
•Project Schedule (PDF)
•Neighborhood Zones Map (PDF)
Frequently Asked Questions
Safety
Are LED lights harmful to my health or the environment?
Replacing old, high-pressure sodium lights with new LED fixtures should have no negative impact on health or the environment. In fact, LED lights offer significant benefits including reduced energy use and less light-trespass.
I read that the American Medical Association (AMA) issued a report that excessive blue light emitted by LEDs is harmful to health and the environment.
In June 2016, the American Medical Association (AMA) published an article on the potential environmental and health hazards associated with LED streetlights.
The AMA article’s focus evaluated early LED installations with respect to glare and light trespass (light spreading to unintended areas), the potential impacts on human health and the environment and how best to minimize those impacts. The AMA commended the energy efficiency and effectiveness of LED technology, but also urged cities to minimize the amount of blue-rich outside lighting and recommended the use of LEDs with a color temperature equal to or less than 3000K to minimize the amount of glare.
The report failed to consider some of the significant benefits associated with various higher temperature lights in certain situations. A study in Seattle documented how light color temperature can affect how far in advance drivers can detect objects. That study found the best color temperature for night time object detection is around 4000K, approximately the same color temperature as moonlight.
- Glare reduction – LED technology has significantly improved since the early installations used in the AMA study. New LED technology provides much greater control over glare and lighting than early installations including how much, where and when
light is dispersed). - Night vision – For
high speed traffic areas, industry research suggests 3000K is insufficient to support optimal safety for drivers and pedestrians. For higher speed areas, 4000K LED lighting improves object detection by 1.5 times that of 3000K fixtures. Quantity of blue light – every streetlight emits some degree of blue light. While the percentage of blue light emitted is higher in the new LED fixtures, the intensity is less than existing fixtures. Normalized by intensity, the 4000K arterial LEDs will emit 12 – 17% less blue light than our existing high-pressure sodium fixtures.
LEDs provide the greatest ability to control where and when
Did the City install any LEDs that go against the AMA recommendations?
3000K LEDs were installed in all residential and local areas, which comply with the AMA recommendations. In higher speed arterial streets, Public Works will be installing 4000K fixtures to ensure adequate safety. After extensive research, Public Works found that 3000K lighting in high traffic areas did not meet minimal safety requirements for traffic and pedestrians. It was determined that 4000K LED lights provide optimal safety in high-speed arterials. This allows the City to:
- Minimize glare through design and fixture
- Increase night visibility and object detection at a distance
- Provide lighting that emits less “blue light” than existing high-pressure sodium fixtures
