$20M street-light project to focus on electric infrastructure then LEDs

Grand Rapids officials want to break the city's upcoming street light improvement project into two phases -- underground first, above ground later -- in an attempt to potentially save money. The first phase, estimated to cost $8.6 million, would include replacing the city's outdated underground electric infrastructure, which staff says is vulnerable to failures and electrical hazards. In turn, the project would put off replacing the more than 18,000 street lights with new LED lights until after the city commission has a better understanding of how best to replace the lights, and who best to contract with to do so.