HAMMOND | Streetlight bulbs are being changed in North Hammond to increase driver safety and lower electricity costs.
Midwestern Electric Co., of East Chicago, came in with a low bid of $12,000 to replace 38 low-pressure sodium lamps on Hohman Avenue with newer high-pressure sodium bulbs.
The familiar orange-glowing low-pressure lights were installed when energy costs spiked in the late 1970s, but modern high-pressure lamps put out more light with less power, City Engineer Stan Dostatni said.
Recent studies also suggest drivers can see better at night with the more broad-spectrum, "natural-looking" light put out by high-pressure lamps, he said.
Streetlights will be changed from Gostlin Street to 137th Street, where Hohman Avenue converges with Sheffield Avenue, as the city phases out use of the low-pressure sodium bulbs.
Eventually, city street lamps will use ultra-low power light emitting diode technology similar to that already found in most traffic signals, Dostatni said.
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