The City of Round Rock is demonstrating the future of street lighting in partnership with GigaTera, Planled and Opterra. The pilot program, designed by LED innovator Planled, puts cutting-edge streetlight and security systems at two locations in the City.

Convergent technology leader GigaTera, along with Planled and lighting solutions leader Opterra, installed, at no cost the City, 100 high efficiency LED lampheads on existing street light poles along sections of Double Creek Drive and Forest Creek Drive. The City anticipates dramatic savings in energy and maintenance costs by replacing existing fixtures with these multi-purpose lights. The LED streetlights, in addition to providing more natural lighting at night, have the ability to flash red to alert motorists of an emergency.

The new LED lights are on the right, with existing streetlights on the left. (Photo courtesy of The City of Round Rock)

The flashing function will be tested a limited number of times, primarily to showcase the advanced technology in the lampheads.

Advanced LED lampheads have been installed on existing poles in the parking lot at the Round Rock Police Department. Some of the lampheads have high definition cameras built in, which will provide additional security at the Safety Exchange Zone established there in June. The Safety Exchange Zone was created to give citizens a safe location to exchange goods purchased on sites like Craigslist.

Planled reached out to the City because Round Rock has already adopted LED technology in some of its facilities, including the Round Rock Sports Center.

“We’re glad to provide Planled with a venue to demonstrate its advanced LED technology,” Assistant City Manager Brooks Bennett said. “These smart devices have the potential to save money and improve safety, and we are anxious to see what kind of a difference they can make.”

“It’s an honor to work with a city that can quickly understand and embrace technological advances that benefit its residents,” said John Hwang, CEO of Planled, “Round Rock is truly a leader in adopting the most advanced and protective products available. This city is blazing the trail for many other communities to adopt the next generation of LED street lighting and security systems.”

“We are proud to showcase the rapidly growing and responsibly led community of Round Rock with our first of its kind multi-purpose lighting system,” said Duk Yong Kim, Chairman of GigaTera. “Residents, business and visitors will benefit from the bold leadership of Round Rock.”