Goleta is moving forward with its LED Street Lighting Project after receiving unanimous approval from the City Council at its July 20 meeting. The council ratified the design plans and authorizes the LED conversion agreement amendment for the LED Street Lighting Project.
The project is a milestone in the Goleta’s sustainability efforts as it will be replacing about 1,300 High Pressure Sodium (HPS) streetlight fixtures with new energy efficient LED streetlights throughout the city.
The project is expected to save Goleta more than 345,000 kilowatt hours and about $115,000 in energy costs in the first year after the project is implemented. In addition to saving the city money, the new lights will require less maintenance and provide clearer lighting.
“The city’s LED Street Light Project is a very important and significant capital improvement project which will benefit all of Goleta and its residents,” said Cecilia Brown, a 50-year resident of Goleta. “Staff has been most accommodating in working with the public and responding to their inquiries.
“Kudos to LED Street Light Project manager Michael Winnewisser and deputy Public Works director James Campero for recognizing and promoting Goleta standards in project design,” she said.
In 2020, the city acquired the streetlights from Southern California Edison and began looking into different LED options for the community. In January, Goleta held a pilot study to get community comments.
Based on feedback from the pilot study, Green Committee, and Virtual Town Hall, the city selected GE fixtures that are 2700K color temperature streetlights. The wattage of the LED fixtures will vary depending on the road type of the light’s location: arterials, collectors, and residential streets will all vary in brightness. The busier streets will have higher energy, and thus brighter lights.
Design maps showing the existing and proposed streetlight fixture wattages throughout the city, as well as other project design considerations and recommendations, are available at www.CityofGoleta.org/LEDStreetlights.
A video about the LED Street Lighting Project is available in English at https://youtu.be/6zgKww9XIiQ and Spanish at https://youtu.be/j9-r-2zLi9Q.
City staff is currently coordinating with its consultant and subcontractor to approve and place the order for LED streetlights needed for conversion to begin. The fixtures are expected to take about two months to arrive. City staff will update the website and do outreach with the proposed conversion schedule once the lights are received and construction is ready to begin.
Direct questions to Michael Winnewisser, project manager, 805-690-5120 or mwinnewisser@cityofgoleta.org.