KING CITY — City streets will soon look a little brighter now that King City has partnered with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to install more than 100 new streetlights around town to enhance public safety and save energy.
City of King and PG&E officials gathered Friday morning to mark the beginning of the city’s streetlight expansion project with the installation of the first new LED streetlight at 428 N. Second St. A total of 110 new streetlights will be installed on existing utility poles over the next couple months.
“When we did a community survey, streetlights was one of the top things that the community identified that they wanted, so we’re really responding to that survey with this project,” said City Manager Steve Adams.
Increasing street lighting was one of the recommendations of the City of King’s Comprehensive Plan to End Youth Violence.
Adams said the city is also developing plans for a future program that would regularly add more lights and utility poles in dimly lit locations where there are none.
According to PG&E, the optical technology in the new LED streetlights will help brighten darker areas of town, resulting in greater visibility for both pedestrians and drivers. These lights use up to 75 percent less energy than traditional bulbs as well as significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and require less maintenance.
LED lights also provide a more natural-looking light that can last up to four times longer than traditional bulbs.
“The new lights are going to reduce (the city’s) energy costs, reduce maintenance costs, and the lighting they provide is much cleaner and better than the typical streetlights out here as it sends the light straight down to the ground, so it’s way more effective lighting up the area,” said Rob Morse, senior manager of PG&E Central Coast Division. “… On all those counts, it’s better for everybody — costs less, less maintenance and provides better lighting — so there’s a greater level of safety for the community.”
Adams said the new lights are being funded from savings generated by converting all the city’s other streetlights to LED.
“We determined how much the ongoing cost of the new lights would cost, and then we matched that to the savings we got from the other lights, so it’s basically a break-even,” he said. “We’re getting 110 new lights without any additional cost.”
