LED Street Light Replacement Project to be Completed
May 29, 2024 –The City of Mandan will soon complete a replacement of old streetlight fixtures with new LED lights throughout the community. The LED lights are energy efficient and provide cost savings for the city.
Since 2015 the City has replaced old streetlight fixtures with new LED Lights at a cost of about $50-$60,000 a year, and that has replaced about half of the entire network of lights. This project will replace 1,000 fixtures, completing the LED street light replacement project.
Total cost for the final replacement piece of the project is about $600,000 paid for by the street light utility fund. The changeover to LED lights is anticipated to result in power draw reductions, saving the City an estimated $60,000 per year. Savings are expected to increase over time as electricity rates rise. The return on investment for this project is about 10 years.
“Since 2015 as many street lights as we’ve added, coupled with the increase in electricity our total dollars spent on electricity has practically been reduced or stayed the same,” says Fire Chief/Public Works Director Mitch Bitz, “so there’s proof that changing these bulbs saves us dollars.”
As of May 29, lamp replacements and post-top replacements (the work done on the smaller poles that look like lanterns) have been completed in all project areas. The project is fully complete in the area north of Old Red Trail and in Lakewood. The contractor will move on to single and double panel replacements (flat fixtures that slip into the arm of the taller poles) in several areas of Mandan including:
- Residential areas by Division St
- South of the tracks by the Public Works facility
- Along Third St SE
- Near Dacotah Speedway
- Residential area off of 19th St SW by Highway 6
- Residential area off of Highway 1806 south of the dog park
The lifespan on the LED bulbs is 20-25 years, and the project is anticipated to be complete by the end of the year.