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LED Streetlight and Smart Traffic Signal Infrastructure Upgrade

Solution Overview

The City of Dallas is implementing a comprehensive infrastructure modernization program focused on converting its streetlight network to energy-efficient LED technology and upgrading traffic signal systems with intelligent network technologies.[6] This approach aims to reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs, and enhance system reliability during severe weather events.[6] The initiative encompasses both immediate lighting retrofits and advanced traffic management capabilities designed to improve urban infrastructure resilience.[1][2]

Technical Components

The Smart Lighting initiative focuses on converting the City's 85,000 streetlights to energy-efficient LED technology, replacing existing high-pressure sodium or metal halide bulbs with LED fixtures.[2][1] The traffic signal network upgrade incorporates sensors that detect the presence of vehicles, with the system adjusting itself in real time across hundreds of intersections.[4] Dallas signed an agreement with Ericsson, a provider of communications and Internet of Things infrastructure, to provide hardware and software upgrades for its traffic management systems.[4] Ericsson's Intelligent Transport System technology is based on open platforms with application programming interfaces (APIs) and services, allowing developers and local stakeholders to easily access published APIs and make use of available data in a controlled and secure way.[4] The Transportation Department implements the installation of fiberoptic cable through a price agreement with Durable Specialties, Inc., which was authorized in December 2018 by City Council Resolution No. 18-1787.[3] The video integration phase of the traffic management system includes automatic camera focusing and information transmission back to the transportation center, with completion scheduled by summer.[4]

Implementation Details

The lighting plan is divided into two phases, with the first consisting of upgrading 1,000 city-owned lights from their current high-pressure sodium or metal halide bulbs to LED fixtures.[1] Phase two includes infrastructure updates like traffic signals and pedestrian improvements in addition to converting 500 street lights and adding 190 new fixtures within five years.[1] The city is converting 1,000 street lights to LED and adding almost 200 lights to poorly lit areas.[1] Most of the 1,000 lights to be upgraded are in southern Dallas but a few are in the northern part of the city.[1] The first project upgraded 76 lights to LED along South Malcolm X Boulevard near Marburg Street, a corridor in South Dallas.[1] Phase two lighting updates are concentrated in five areas and funded in part by the county: South Walton Walker Boulevard, Lancaster Road, Simpson Stuart Road and South Buckner Boulevard in southern Dallas and Vickery Meadow in northeast Dallas.[1] The City's Transportation Department implements the public street lighting improvement project through a service price agreement with Highway Intelligent Traffic Solutions, Inc., which was authorized in May 2020 by City Council Resolution No. 20-0821.[3] The street lighting improvement project in the Skillman Corridor TIF District was scheduled to begin construction in March 2022 and complete construction in December 2022.[3] On December 3, 2021, the Skillman Corridor TIF District Board of Directors reviewed the public street lighting improvement project and unanimously recommended City Council approval.[3] The $500,000 LED upgrade project, already in progress, is estimated to take up to a year to complete.[1] Dallas Transportation Director Gus Khankarli said it's going to take about five to seven years to convert based on the projected life of a bulb.[5] City officials said they will examine the cost and negotiate with Oncor for a total conversion plan.[5]

Benefits and Impacts

The $500,000 project will save the city $12,000 annually.[1] The benefits of LED street lights include energy preservation, more illumination and less frequent maintenance.[1] LED lights are more expensive, but there is a potential long-term cost-saving advantage to changing with much lower LED energy costs.[5] Michael Rogers, director of Dallas' transportation department, said that the department's biggest line item is the energy cost of the current lights: $17 million, which also includes Oncor and TXU Energy's fees.[1] The Smart Lighting initiative aims to create a platform for other smart city applications, such as public Wi-Fi, environmental sensors, and security cameras.[2]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

This comprehensive retrofit program directly addresses climate resilience by reducing lighting outages during weather events through more durable LED technology and enhanced traffic signal network capabilities.[6] The infrastructure improvements strengthen the city's ability to maintain critical transportation and safety systems during extreme weather conditions while simultaneously reducing energy consumption and operating costs.[6]

Business Analysis

Of nearly 95,000 streetlights in Dallas, just over one in 10 are LED lights now.[5] The City has converted over 10,000 streetlights to LED technology.[2] Around 15,000 Dallas streetlights are owned by the City and nearly half of those are LEDs.[5] Electric provider Oncor owns and maintains 72,000 of the lights and less than one in 20 of the Oncor lights are LED.[5] Oncor, the state's largest electric utility company, owns 75% of the 80,000 street lights in Dallas.[1] Oncor replaces dimmer orange or white mercury vapor lights with LEDs when streetlights burn out.[5] The phased implementation approach allows the city to manage capital expenditures while demonstrating cost savings, with the $500,000 initial project generating $12,000 in annual savings.[1] County funding support for phase two projects demonstrates multi-jurisdictional investment in the infrastructure modernization program.[1]

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