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New smart lights proposed in city of Cleveland

The city of Cleveland looks to move toward becoming a smart city with new streetlights and cameras.

CLEVELAND - Lights, cameras, the future. That’s the way the city of Cleveland sees it as they try to push toward becoming more of a smart city.

The city introduced the Safe, Smart, CLE initiative in April, planning to overhaul the streetlights around town with new LED lights. Councilman Kerry McCormick says, “We have the opportunity to implement a smart city strategy across the city of Cleveland and really revolutionize the way we provide services to the residents.”

More than just being more energy efficient, the lights can also be brightened or dimmed by remote control, if for example, the police need to shed light on a crime scene or brighten areas of higher crime. The lights would also be able to send alerts if a bulb goes out.

“In addition we’re going to be adding other technology to those poles to really increase Cleveland’s standing as a smart city,” says McCormick.

Some of that other technology he’s talking about are security cameras in 22 target areas. The city wants to install the cameras near the rec centers, areas of high crime and intersections.

In all the city is looking to upgrade 61,000 streetlights over the next 18 months and install less than 1,000 cameras. The price tag for it all is estimated at over $25 million. The city says that’s a small price to pay when considering the new technology and longer lasting bulbs will save money.

City Council says they’ll be moving forward with selling bonds to finance the project, but they’ll continue to iron out all the details over the next month.

Details that could include adding parking assistance, travel assistance and lights that could notify the city when streets need plowed.

Councilman McCormick says, “It’s about making Cleveland safer. It’s about using less resources. Its about being more fiscally conservative with our tax payers dollars. It’s a big win for the city.”

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