(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi34.tinypic.com%2Fibb1y0.jpg&hash=ba8218392b90714dc7be1188fdec78ce71ce143c)
I shot this picture in Cupertino, CA on CA-85 and Steven's Creek Bl. I thought it's interesting that these are going mainstream. Back in March, they installed them in most of the weigh stations in Santa Clara Co. Now the city of Morgan Hill uses them quite extensively (but that's city jurisdiction, not state). Anyways, have any of you other Californians noticed these new LED streetlamps on your state-maintained roads or even local roads?
According to the local newspaper, the use of LED street lights is going to increase significantly. San Jose is starting to replace their old street lights that produce an orange light with the new LED street lights the produce a white-er light. I know they are already installed at the 85/280 and 85/Stevens Creek Blvd interchanges and the 880/101 interchange. There are also a few streets in Cupertino that also have the LED street lights. I like them because they are more energy efficient and it's easier to recognize colors (on cars, buildings, clothing, etc).
We used to have white street lights in the valley until the Lick Observatory complained that, due to the growth in the region, the street lights were interfering with their telescopes on Mt. Hamilton. The solution was to introduce the orange sodium-somthing-or-other street lights. Apparently, the observatory is OK with the new LED street lights.
I believe the city of Henderson, Nevada has also been retrofitting old street lights with LED lighting. From what I saw on the plane a week ago, the retrofits were mainly on residential streets.
The city of Los Angeles has begun replacing their sodium-vapor lamps with LED lamps. I was out in the San Fernando Valley in July and although they haven't done much of the switchover on the main streets, there's a new LED lamp right next to my friend's house on a little side street in Sylmar.