The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will lead a collaborative partnership among industry, government, not-for-profit and academic organizations to conduct a demonstration of a light emitting diode (LED) roadway lighting retrofit installation along Central Avenue (Route 5) in the Town and Village of Colonie. Collaborative partners in the proposed project, in addition to the LRC, include the Town of Colonie, the Village of Colonie, electric utility National Grid, and the local metropolitan planning organization, Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC). Also making up part of the project team is Creighton Manning Engineering, LLP.

The objective of this project is to validate and understand issues related to the design, installation and performance of light emitting diode roadway lighting and use this information to help inform practical tariff mechanisms in New York State. Necessarily, such an effort requires the collaboration among a number of organizations, including the electric utility, municipalities, specification engineers and planning organizations. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has identified Central Avenue (NYS Route 5), in the Town and Village of Colonie, in Albany County, NY as a location where there have been concerns about pedestrian safety. Engineering firm Creighton Manning has conducted a pedestrian safety study of this arterial roadway in 2014 and for this reason this road was included in a NYSDOT study by Bullough et al. (2015), because lighting improvements were identified as one means of improving pedestrian safety.