Cities getting smart with traffic signals and streetlights
A smartphone shows an app that works with the smart traffic signals in Denver, Colo. (Photo provided)
Grand Rapids in process
Grand Rapids, Mich., is in the process of switching to smart streetlights with a two-phase $20 million bond project. The first phase was an $8.8 million bond that will take care of infrastructure.
Bruce Sweeris, energy, lighting and communications superintendent for Grand Rapids, said the city has 20 projects funded from the $8.8 million and about half of them are in construction with the remainder starting in the spring of 2020.
“The focus of our projects is on critical electrical infrastructure repairs/replacements to primary and secondary circuits. This includes components like poles, duct banks, primary cables, transformers, meters, circuit breakers, etc. One important outcome will be the conversion of our end of life 2400V Delta primary circuits to 7200/12470V Wye primary circuits. This conversion is part of our asset management strategy for improved safety and reliability of our electrical infrastructure, which is the backbone of our electrical system,” he said.
“Additionally, we’re in the final design stage of a 538 LED fixture provisional review project that includes seven pin smart controls in three wards of our city. ELC is partnering with our water and water resource recovery facility to share a wireless communication system (FlexNet); this system will allows us to communicate with water and sewer meters, electric meters and our streetlights. The city owns and operates 18,037 street-lighting fixtures citywide; a provisional review on a small percentage of our systems makes good sense. It allows us to verify our strategies and outcomes, as well as receive feedback from our city stakeholders.”
Reportedly, the city has 80,000 water meters and replaces approximately 5,000 a year. A smart meter cost about $90 more per meter than a regular water meter. The cost to replace the water meters is not included in this $20 million bond, according to Amy Biolchini’s May 2018 article, “Grand Rapids, Mich., Puts $20M Toward Smart LED Streetlights,” which appeared in the Grand Rapids Press.
“It just made good sense to get infrastructure done first,” Sweeris said, and by doing the provisional review, it allows the city to see how it works “before rolling it out to the entire city.”
“With the new wireless smart controls, we’ll transition away from complaint-based citizen reported light outages to automated system generated notifications for our operations and maintenance. The smart controls will allow us to control on/off and adjust lighting levels through LED dimmable drivers; the smart controllers also have GPS coordinates. The street-lighting LED fixtures and controls required five pins; the other two pins are available for future smart city technologies. The future technologies could include various sensors like temperature, wind, available parking spots, snow accumulation, etc. The system does not have enough band width for video streaming, and that was not our intent of this system.”
The remaining 17,000-plus HPS street-lighting fixtures are planned to be replaced with LEDs and smart controls through a second bond; this is currently projected to start in 2021.
Sweeris said the city is expecting to see approximately 30-40% in energy savings.
The wisdom of utilizing those ever-present streetlights and traffic signals in more expanded and innovative ways is spreading — after all, it’s a bright idea!
