Let there be light!

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David Allyn said traffic safety improvement on Baldwin Road will happen this year, he’s just not sure when it will happen.
‘The signals will happen this year,? said Allyn, Director of Traffic Safety for Oakland County Road Commission..
Badly needed traffic lights at both the Baldwin and Seymour Lake east and west intersections are scheduled to be installed, said Allyn, but it will not happen until land rights of way are complete.
‘The east leg of the Seymour Lake intersection (which is located in Oxford Township) requires a left turn lane first,? said Allyn.
In order to construct the left hand turn lane, a right of way needs to be purchased. Allyn said the transaction is on the verge of completion and then construction could begin.
‘It’s an Oakland County Road Commission project that has been approved,? said Allyn.
The west leg of Seymour Lake Road (situated in Brandon Township) requires a widening flare, which Allyn said that, too, is an approved project.
During peek traffic hours, drivers entering onto Baldwin from both east and west Seymour Lake Road must wait several minutes to get a break in traffic. There are no traffic lights from as far south as Lake Orion, to break up the heavy traffic flow.
‘I expect this to go this year,? assured Allyn.

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As construction continues and the eventual completion of Lake Orion’s Streetscape project grows ever nearer, area residents can be sure they will be able to see the good and the bad, day or night.
Part of the Streetscape’s general improvements include the replacement of the tungsten bulbs currently in the lamps lining downtown’s streets with energy efficient alternative LED bulbs. Some of the lamps, including about 50 spread between Shadbolt, Anderson, Flint and Lapeer streets have already received the update– with about another 40 planned when completed.
DDA director Suzanne Perreault said the lights are not only brighter, but cheaper in the long run.
‘It’s not really about the brighter bulbs so much as the energy efficiency,? she said. ‘The DDA pays for all the electricity that goes into running the lamps, and the LEDs will greatly reduce our long term cost.?
The savings, according to Village Manager Paul Zelenak, equal around half the amount currently paid. The installation, however, is not cheap, rounding out to almost $1,000 per lamp, yet thanks to an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLAG), the cost of the project has been significantly reduced.
‘Before I got here, the DDA was moving ahead with Streetscape, and our construction firm said there were grants available through DLAG,? said Perreault. ‘They were already planning on replacing a lot of the lights, so they decided to wrap the grant into the Streetscape and replace more.?
Current events aside, both Zelenak and Perreault believe replacement of the lamps will help Lake Orion Village stay fiscally stable and technologically up-to-date. To Zelenak’s understanding, the lamps will pay for themselves in three years time, while visitors to downtown will enjoy predominantly more white light, as opposed to the yellow light emitted by the current bulbs.
The lamps that have been replaced have pink ribbons tied around them, although this should not be confused with lamps that will be replaced soon which have pink tape with text tied to them.
The replacement of the the lamp posts will be complete by the end of Streetscape in July.

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