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Streetlight initiative earns praise from city

Lighting Repairman Frank Ferguson works on an LED streetlight.
Lighting Repairman Frank Ferguson works on an LED streetlight.

Tampa Electric is leading the way to a safer, brighter community, one streetlight at a time.

Working with the city of Tampa, the company will add an estimated 125 LED streetlights along about three miles of busy Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, the site of several recent accidents. Tampa Electric expects to complete a stretch of new streetlights between 30th and 22nd streets by the end of 2014.

The city of Tampa thanked Tampa Electric for its participation at a news conference on April 15.

“We’re eager to see this project through, because more than just helping to create a safer community overall, the streetlights could help prevent tragedies like the ones we’ve seen far too often in that area,” said Lynn Whitman, supervisor of Lighting Operations with Tampa Electric. “LEDs provide very effective lighting and are cost-effective for the city of Tampa – but of course as every Tampa Electric team member knows, there’s no price that you can put on safety.”

The initiative is part of the five-year Bright Lights, Safe Nights project that kicked off in 2013. As of early May, Tampa Electric had installed about 2,100 of the 8,400 streetlights planned throughout Tampa. In addition to supporting efforts to reduce car crashes and pedestrian and bicycle accidents, the streetlights will help Tampa Police Department in areas experiencing high crime rates.

“This streetlight initiative is evidence of a strong partnership between Tampa and Tampa Electric,” Whitman said. “For us, this ties directly into our commitment to the community, but most importantly, it will hopefully help this city become safer for everyone.”

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