LED traffic lights having trouble shedding snow
Despite the re-assurances given when they were installed, new LED traffic lights in Philadelphia are having trouble staying clear of snow.
Councilman Frank Rizzo says this week’s snow has clogged traffic signals to the point where drivers can’t tell if they are red or green.
“The incandescent lights the old bulbs generated heat and melted the snow and the new lights are the LED lights, at many intersections you had to be very careful because of these LED lights that were coated and not melted,” said Rizzo.
A spokesman for the mayor says the incandescent fixtures had their own set of problems. Melting snow often shorted them out.
He says the new LED fixtures are saving Philadelphia about a $1 million a year in energy costs and were installed with a federal stimulus grant.
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