According to Pam Richmond at the City Council meeting on July 7, the city of Apopka installed 123 new LED street lights and converted 626 existing street lights to LEDs.
Richmond serves as the traffic coordinator for the planning and zoning department of Apopka, and is responsible for the implementation of the street light renovation. The presentation led by Richmond updated Apopka’s information on street lighting installations and upgrades in the past 18 months.
“We do our best with almost no budget,” Richmond said. “In fact, 123 new installations are hanging on the existing infrastructure.”
The Apopka planning and zoning department focused on upgrading and installation in several locations, starting with Park Avenue. The first phase extends from Oak Street to Nancy Lee Lane, where 16 street lights have been upgraded to Roadway LED lights and 29 new Roadway LED lights have been installed.
The second and third phases of Park Avenue include 32 upgrades to road LED lights, six new road LED light installations, and the replacement of 34 Post Top Ocala and Biscayne HSP lights with K-118 LED lights. The improvements in the second and third phases extend from Oak Street to Main Street, and from Main Street to 11th Street.
At Alonzo Williams Park, Richmond shared, “We have added two road [LED] lights and [three] K-118 [LED] lights.” Apopka and the division department also added two existing The road lights are upgraded to LED lights around the park. “My understanding of this project is that there are some grants. When this grant problem is resolved, we will add more lights in this area,” she said.
Sandpiper Road upgraded five existing lights from Park Avenue to Thompson Road to LED lights, and installed new Roadway LED lights on Sandpiper Road on Park Avenue and Sandpiper Road on Ustler Road.
Many changes have taken place in Kit Land Nelson Park in Richmond. “We replaced the existing 10 lights and light poles with K-118 [lights].” She continued, “They placed holiday sockets on the poles around the park and upgraded 22 lights to LEDs.”
“So far, we have upgraded 148 [Roadway] lights to LEDs, and there are plans for lights in the future.” The Apopka planning and zoning department added three K-118 LED lights around the new playground, replacing 11 existing ones. The lights have been upgraded to LEDs and four road lights have been added.
Being close to Apopka High School, residents breathed a sigh of relief after seeing five new LED light installations on Martin St.
“We got a lot of calls and got praise for getting it there. The lights are close to the school and everyone is happy to see this. It’s really important,” Richmond said.
She announced 15 upgrades to LED lights along E. Fifth St. from Central Avenue to Forest Avenue. The Apopka Planning and Zoning Department also installed 18 new Clermont LED lights on McGee Avenue, added 12 new LED lights in the parking lot of E. 5th St., and upgraded 71 existing lights on Vick Road to LED lights , And upgrade 10 existing lights to LED lights on Michael Gladden Road.
The regional upgrade extends north of I-4, south to Michael Gladden [Road], west to Bradshaw [Road], and east to [South] Central [Avenue]. Richmond explained: “Our representative, Gerry Rooks, drove around the area, looking for opportunities. We can go in and update the existing lights to LEDs or add additional lights. Because of the infrastructure there, we have 94 existing ones. Lights. This area has been upgraded to LEDs.”
Richmond also explained potential projects in the future. Currently, there are no street lights on Hiawassee Road from Apopka Boulevard to US 441.
“We got a lot of calls for lights there,” Richmond said. “We asked Duke Energy to investigate this. They are designing it and they will give us a quote.” As the design entered the final stage, Duke Energy recommended 26 new road LEDs on 23 light poles light. “This is one of the places where there is no infrastructure. This is the cost we have to pay,” Richmond told the city council.
“This project has always been Edward [Bass]‘s passion. He is really the driving force behind this. I can’t tell you that there were street lights on a day we haven’t dealt with in the past three or four months,” Richmond said. “Between what we are trying to do with Duke Energy and what we want to do with DOT, this is a task… Without our partner Gerry Rooks, cooperation with Duke Energy would not possible.”
Commissioner Diane Velazquez replied: “I actually met Gerry Rooks, you are right, he is a very good partner.”
Velazquez mentioned the lighting improvements around Wolf Lake Middle School and Elementary School on W. Ponkan Road and praised Rooks for participating in the project. “This is your relationship with Gerry Rooks. He really cares about life because he cares about students, schools and pedestrians in general. This is part of making our streets safe.”
“From the moment I participated, this was the first thing I really wanted to see,” said Commissioner Doug Bankson, referring to the improved lighting on Ponkan Road. Bankson also talked about the lighting improvement of Snipe Road. Bankson joked: “Although the house in front of my house is not so bright, I am happy for the citizens because it is safer and there are more opportunities there.”
Commissioner Alexander Smith expressed his gratitude to the recent lighting improvements. “The citizens are very grateful. They see the work being done and realize that it is a process, so they are very patient, but they are happy to see what is being done. We want to commend you for what you have done,” he Say.
“I think everyone here supports expanding the coverage of street lights, because obviously the advantage of having a well-lit street is that the street is safer. This reduces the burden on our public safety employees to respond to these calls. Unfortunately, many of them have caused Death,” Commissioner Kyle Becker said.
Now how to install a wide hood on all these new super lights to eliminate all the light pollution you just made? Checked with Casselberry that they did it very correctly and won the award.
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