VALPARAISO | It will cost a little more to install, but the city's Redevelopment Commission hopes that "going green" with the extension of the street lighting project will pay off in the long run.

City Engineering Director Tim Burkman told the commission Thursday that design work by First Group is nearing completion for extending the decorative street lighting on Lincolnway from the downtown as far west as Joliet Road and to the east to Roosevelt Road. To complete the work, the consultant needed the commission to decide how far apart the poles should be and what type of bulb should be used.

The commission plans to replace 30 NIPSCO "cobra head" streetlights between Morgan Boulevard and Roosevelt and agreed with Burkman's recommendation to put them closer than one a block. That will require 31 lights, while about 60 will be needed from Joliet to Napoleon Street, where the spacing will continue the 120-foot pattern of the downtown.

Rather than use the 175-watt, high-pressure sodium bulbs installed in the Eastgate corridor east of Roosevelt, the commission agreed to go with the more energy-efficient, 90-watt LED bulbs used downtown. The LED bulbs will increase the overall cost of the project by about $1,000 per pole for 90 poles, but the bulbs last four times as long. The energy bill is about $1,500 less a year compared to the sodium lights.

If the city expects to encourage local businesses to be more energy efficient, the city has to set the example, said commission member Jim Jorgensen said. The total cost of the project will be about $880,000, but the commission has a federal transportation enhancement grant of $625,000 to cover up to 80 percent of the cost. None of the additional poles will be equipped with banner arms like those downtown and in Eastgate, and they won't have speakers like the downtown poles.

First Group also is expected to provide an estimate in about a week for other improvements between the downtown and the transit oriented development area around the Village Station at Campbell Street and Lincolnway.

The project could include more decorative lighting from Napoleon to the planned downtown park at Indiana and Lafayette Street as well as a V-Line bus shelter. The project is tentatively planned for this year.