The before shot is a Google Streetview shot. The After shot is from a RIDOT traffic camera, taken a few days ago. That's what the stretch looks like now. The second overhead sign frame has been taken down as you can see. You can see the tall davits in the "after" shot, which have LeoTek LEDs.
Looks like RI DOT caught the LED disease. Caltrans here in California has gone hogwild with LEDs but the adoption rate varies by local district. Caltrans District 11 in the San Diego area still maintains mercs and HPS, and only about 15% of lights are LED. District 8, which covers the San Bernardino and Riverside areas, has already gone to like 80% LED. Most are Leoteks, there are a few GEs and AELs. The GE Evolve Scaleable model has pretty good light distribution.
Unfortunately, yep. RIDOT has decided to start using LEDs (Leoteks). Wow sounds like there's a lot of LEDs out in California! Boston is mostly LEDs, that's the nearest almost entirely LED place to me. I saw some of the GE Scalable LEDs used by MassDOT and up in NH (used by the NHE Co-Op) and I was impressed by the distribution too. GE's got the right idea, using reflectors to direct the light. And they don't even look that bad by day! Of course no LED street light can compete with classic HID cobraheads.
Mike, if you find your favorite streetlights in google map that you think it may be in danger of refitting. Make a picture grab and save it for your prosperity. They tend to update streetview grab sometimes.
They have a feature on streetview where you can see things on different dates. So on an interstate you can see what it looks like in 2014, 2012, 2009, 2007, etc. by clicking the little clock button.
Is what on the classic view? The pic on the left is google streetview from 2011 (the most recent streetview) and the pic on the right is a RIDOT traffic camera shot from within the past month.
Sorry, Mike. What I meant is for the different date features at the Google streetview. How do I access the little clock. I don't see it at the classic Google streetview method.
I was actually only referring to the state owned lighting, most utility and city owned street lights are still HID. Los Angeles is LED, and HID is found most everywhere else outside LA.
MassDOT and RIDOT lights are state owned. I haven't been into connecticut recently to see if they've began using LEDs on freeways but last I checked they were still using 250W HPS. ConnDOT and MassDOT have quite a variety of lights from just about every brand since they spot-replaced mercs from the 70s until they wiped the rest out in the 90s. A good portion of RI's freeway lights were electric comany owned (NECo for the most part and some BVE owned lights in the nothern part of the state). BVE owned installations have some nice variety. NECo owned lights are all 100% drop lens 250W HPS M-250R2s. Of course both NECo and BVE are now NGrid. RIDOT's lighting is pretty uniform too. Drop lens lights are M-250R2s for 250W and M-400R2s or M-400s for 400W (some 80s OVSs and OVMs too on certain freeways) and for FCO either OVFs or M-400 FCOs for both 250 and 400W. I'm not sure why they use medium fixtures for all FCO but only use medium fixtures for 400W drop lens. Fortunately RIDOT doesn't mix FCO and drop lens. I've seen a couple instances where it's happened but it is rare.
I like how RIDOT keeps things uniform unlike how MassDOT and ConnDOT slap up whatever they come across, though the latter two have moe variety. MassDOT uses steel curved trusses for new poles. Not a huge fan of them but they're more interesting than the davits RIDOT puts up lol. ConnDOT currently installs aluminum low-rise truss poles (the truss arms are long and don't rise much so they look stretched out IMO). My favorite poles that i wish I saw more of are the HAPCO 8ft trusses and 5ft tapered ellipticals that NECo and now NGrid use. I really like those. Unfortunately they're numbers are less and less ad RIDOT does reconstruction and relighting projects. The biggest interchanges with NGrid lights are I-295/Rt 37 in Cranston and Rte 10 from Reservoir ave to the rte 6 merge. Exits 1-4 on I-95 are NGrid-lit too. And those metal poles on Rte 2 near the malls are NGrid owned too but I'm not sure if those lights are leased to the state or the city. i would assume the state since it's a state route, but believe it or not, the city or town pays for wood pole lights on state roads.
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I like how RIDOT keeps things uniform unlike how MassDOT and ConnDOT slap up whatever they come across, though the latter two have moe variety. MassDOT uses steel curved trusses for new poles. Not a huge fan of them but they're more interesting than the davits RIDOT puts up lol. ConnDOT currently installs aluminum low-rise truss poles (the truss arms are long and don't rise much so they look stretched out IMO). My favorite poles that i wish I saw more of are the HAPCO 8ft trusses and 5ft tapered ellipticals that NECo and now NGrid use. I really like those. Unfortunately they're numbers are less and less ad RIDOT does reconstruction and relighting projects. The biggest interchanges with NGrid lights are I-295/Rt 37 in Cranston and Rte 10 from Reservoir ave to the rte 6 merge. Exits 1-4 on I-95 are NGrid-lit too. And those metal poles on Rte 2 near the malls are NGrid owned too but I'm not sure if those lights are leased to the state or the city. i would assume the state since it's a state route, but believe it or not, the city or town pays for wood pole lights on state roads.