The city of South Bend is more than halfway through a project that will replace most of the city’s streetlights with LED fixtures.
South Bend will replace streetlights in the city with LEDs as the old bulbs burn out. LEDs are about 50 percent more energy efficient than traditional streetlights.
Therese Dorau is the director of South Bend’s office of sustainability. She said the new lights will save the city money in electricity and maintenance costs, and the LEDs provide better light.
“It made a lot of sense just because we were saving so much time, so much money and actually providing a better quality service.”
Dorau said the new LED fixtures cost about $700 each, but last five times longer than traditional bulbs.
377 fixtures have been replaced so far, about 250 are left to do. Dorau says the project should be finished by the end of 2019.