Fremont, a city located in California, U.S. will be replacing 14,000 streetlights with LEDs in the next few months, as a citywide effort to slash energy costs and make streets safer for pedestrians at night, reported East Bay Times.

The streetlight conversion will start in late September or early October, and is projected to be completed by the end of 2016.

More than 14,279 streetlights and 710 park lights using high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps will be replaced with LEDs.

Two different color temperature LED streetlights will be chosen for the installation, cool white LEDs will be installed in streets while warmer colored LEDs resembling older halogen lamps will be installed in the residential area, said city officials.

The LED lights are projected to propel Fremont to achieving its Climate Action Plan goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from 2005 levels by the year of 2020, and the company recently announced Vision Zero 2020 plan goal to reduce traffic fatalities.

The streetlight upgrade project will help the city save 4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, equivalent to US $590,000, said Rachel DiFranco, the city’s sustainability coordinator.

First phase of the streetlight upgrade will cover Fremont Boulevard, a street that has been prone to accidents based on data collected from 2015.

“We’ve found that 50% of the fatalities were occurring on Fremont Boulevard,” said Sheila Marquises, a senior transportation engineer with the city and project manager for Vision Zero.

A total of 1,272 streetlights have already been replaced with LEDs between 2010 and 2013 as part of independent projects funded with energy efficiency block grants.

The total cost of the streetlight project is an estimated US $9.06 million, but rebates might bring down the costs to US $8.34 million.

The city plans to take out a low-interest, 10-year loan to pay for the project, but expects to save US $100,000 to US $500,000 annually in energy and operating costs.

Contractors will be requested to implement waste handling plan to recycle 100% of asphalt and concrete, and 50% of other materials, including parts of the fixtures, said DiFranco.