Carol Stream installing new lighting
Carol Stream will replace more streetlights with LED bulbs this year as part of an ongoing effort to increase the life span for devices that brighten village streets.
The village is hiring a contractor to install 33 new energy-efficient LED streetlights in the Western Trails subdivision, located southeast of Lies and Kuhn roads. The project will include the installation of new lights, poles, conduit, cable and control boxes, according to Phil Modaff, the village’s director of public works.
In total, the village has installed about 150 new LED light fixtures over the past five years, Modaff said.
Oswego-based Utility Dynamics, the contractor, is charging the village $277,904 for the light replacements in the Western Trails neighborhood. As the lowest bid of three, it came in about $47,000 below the budgeted amount, so Modaff said he may try to negotiate additional light replacements.
The replacements will be funded through the village’s capital improvement program.
Phase one of the project covered about 100 light replacements last year in Western Trails and the Spring Valley neighborhood, located southeast of Army Trail and Fair Oaks roads. It was funded by a $350,000 state grant.
Before that project, village public works crews installed a handful of new LED lights as part of a smaller-scale replacement program that started four years ago.
Modaff said it’s possible he may ask the village board later this year to approve additional project phases, as opposed to smaller scale replacements, to take advantage of economies of scale in planning for the larger projects.
The new LED lights in Western Trails are expected to be installed by Nov. 15.