City Hall Green Team secures half-a-million in stimulus funds to save energy; look for better sync of traffic lights on Blairs Ferry Road NE

CEDAR RAPIDS - City Hall's “Green Team” has secured a $475,000 grant from the Iowa Office of Energy Independence to pay half the cost of four energy-saving city projects.

The projects involve upgrading lighting in three city parking ramps; installing 90 traffic-signal heads with newer technology; replacing 42 streetlights with energy-saving LED lights; and improving traffic-signal synchronization along Blairs Ferry Road.

The first three projects will save the city an estimated $116,757 in energy costs a year while the signal synchronization will save motorists more than $1 million in fuel costs, the city reported on Tuesday.

The city's Green Team is comprised of city employees from a variety of departments who meet regularly to find ways to save energy.

The grant from the state office comes from federal stimulus money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The new streetlights will go up at Williams Boulevard SW and Stoney Point Road SW; 16th Avenue SW and Stoney Point Road SW; 42nd Street NE and Wenig Road NE; Kirkwood Boulevard SW at Kirkwood Court SW, Miller Avenue SW and a Highway 30 ramp; at Collins Road and First Avenue East; and 33rd Avenue SW from Interstate 380 to Sixth Street SW and 33rd Avenue SW at Edgewood Road SW.