A BRIGHT IDEA?

The City Council held hearings Nov. 6 on a bill that would require the city to switch to LED street lamps. The bill, authored by Council Member Jessica Lappin, would make the city ditch halogen bulbs used in traffic lights for energy-efficient LED lights. At the committee meeting, the upfront costs of the plan and technological impediments were sticking points for the city"s Department of Transportation, according to testimony from David Woloch, the agency"s deputy commissioner for external affairs. â??LEDs as a light source are still in the developmental phase and to mandate their use citywide within a year is not prudent, Woloch said in the testimony. â??The costs to implement it would far outweigh any benefits. Lappin, however, said she would compromise with a provision that would gradually install LED lights in street lamps when the bulbs stop working. â??I"m looking to delay and defray upfront capital cost, Lappin said in an interview after the hearing. â??We can do this in a way so that, as existing street lights are being replaced as part of the natural cycle, we can replace them with LED.