Drivers and pedestrians will have careless Philadelphia drivers to thank for new lighting coming to Erie’s Bayfront Connector.
The city has been awarded $55,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Automated Red-Light Enforcement program to replace lights and fixtures on 201 streetlights along the Connector from East Sixth to East 38th street. The funding comes from fines collected for red light violations at 34 Philadelphia intersections.
The new LED lights will replace sodium vapor lights installed when the highway was built three decades ago.
“We had done work inside some of the old fixtures updating them to LED. This grant will allow us to replace the whole fixtures,” said Bill Heiden, city project engineer.
When will lights be replaced?
The grant money covers the cost of the lights and fixtures. City employees will install them. The work is expected to be done this summer.
The improved lighting will benefit both drivers and pedestrians on one of the city’s busiest corridors, local legislators said in announcing the grant award.