In the absence of sunshine at nighttime, dawn and dusk, Tampa Electric brought what may be the next best thing – bright, energy-efficient LED lighting – to a busy stretch of road in the small Polk County community of Eloise.
Along well-traveled Snively Avenue, 31 new LED lights enhance safety for motorists and pedestrians, including children who walk to school along the route. It’s Tampa Electric’s first LED lighting project in Polk County.
Cindy Price, regional manager with the company’s Community Relations team, was part of a dedication ceremony for the new lights on Feb. 29.
“TECO is proud to be part of positive community growth for the residents of Eloise,” she told an assembled gathering of local leaders and residents. “The street lighting project will provide pedestrians and motorists with more visibility, reducing the likelihood of accidents, offering better visibility for nighttime driving and a reduction in crime. At TECO Energy, safety of life outweighs all other considerations.”
For Andre Woodruff, senior lighting field engineer with Tampa Electric, seeing the project through to completion was particularly satisfying given some of its unique challenges.
“About 90 percent of the poles available for the new lighting fixtures were on the north side of the street, while the sidewalk was on the south side,” he said. “Knowing kids especially in the community needed to be able to get to school safely, we used longer brackets to hold the lighting fixtures and made sure we used every pole we could.”
Dawn Decaminada, business assistance manager with Polk County’s Community and Small Business Assistance office, who also attended the dedication, said that the new lights will have a far-reaching, positive impact on the community.
“The residents of Eloise have great pride in their community, the Polk County Board of County Commissioners and the Community Redevelopment Agency board are proud to work side-by-side with the residents to create a better community,” Decaminada said. “We are especially grateful to Cindy Price, Andre Woodruff and TECO overall. The new LED high-visibility street lights are now forever part of the Eloise community as they ensure a better quality of life and more safety for the residents of Eloise as they walk or drive along Snively Avenue in the dark hours of the morning or in the evening.”
Woodruff agreed.
“It was a great experience to see this project come to fruition and to know the benefits for Eloise,” he said. “It started out as just a vision two years ago and we put it all together. It’s easy to work with people who share the same values and concerns.”
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