City Replacing Street Lights | Video

Joel Porter | 4/9/2012

How many streets workers does it take to change a lightbulb? That was the burning question for the city of Bismarck. Last month, city leaders approved the final phase of a project to replace more than 350 street lamps on the south end of Bismarck.

In 2008, the federal government ordered a phase-out of any street lamps that run on mercury vapor. Mercury lamps are no longer manufactured and are considered a hazardous material. In 2009, Bismarck began switching to high pressure sodium ballasts.

"We took a proactive approach and just did it in a regulated routine maintenance move through the city instead of doing it piecemeal one light at a time as they were burning out," said Director of Service Operations Jeff Heintz.

Heintz says he expects contractors will have all the remaining bulbs to be replaced by the summer. The city is finishing the switch-out nearly a year ahead of schedule.

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