Town To Test Low-Energy Street Lights in South Brookline Neighborhood

A small section of South Brookline will serve as the guinea pig for the town's latest money-saving initiative: a pilot program involving 60 low-energy LED street lamps.

Town Engineer Peter Ditto said he expects the LED lights to last five to six times longer than the town's current high-pressure sodium street lamps while providing "a nice uniform light" that wouldn't be significantly brighter than that of the existing lamps.

The new street lamps will be installed on Allendale Street and Risley, Conant, Sherrin and Payson roads in South Brookline. LED lights will also be installed on Harvard Street in Brookline Village as part of a separate street-improvement project.

LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, have become increasingly popular in municipal lighting in recent years because they consume less energy than traditional incandescent lights and last much longer. The 60-light pilot program will cost Brookline nearly $34,000

Town officials will use their experience in South Brookline to help them decide whether to convert the rest of the town's street lamps to LED technology.

"There are two things we will be looking for," Ditto said. "One, certainly cost savings, and two, the quality of light – are people satisfied, are they comfortable with this type of light?"

Ditto said the new lamps are designed to send light downward toward the street, so nearby residents should not be bothered. He said the the town could install shields in places where the lights shine too brightly.

The lights will be provided by LED Roadway Limited, a Canadian company that was among the eight bidders that responded to the town's request for proposals.