This week we're talking about lighting along Interstate 4, where one viewer says the lighting is quite different in one location.

  • Lighting along I-4 near ChampionsGate is noticeably brighter
  • FDOT says lighting there is LED and more efficient
  • Officials will consider more LED lighting along I-4, I-95, I-75

Tony, who works in Orlando and commutes from Lakeland each morning, writes in:

Why is the lighting so different near the ChampionsGate exit along I-4? The lighting is the same all around the corridor except at that exit. The lighting is so much brighter there!"

The ChampionsGate exit along I-4 sits right along the Polk-Osceola County line, putting that just barely in the Florida Department of Transportation's District 5.

Not only is that area growing, but thousands of people who travel to the attractions area or downtown Orlando from the west coast travel through there each day.

If you do find yourself traveling through the area in the early morning and late night, it's hard to miss the bright lighting in the area. You will immediately notice giant, bright light poles scattered near the ChampionsGate exit.

We checked in with FDOT, and officials did confirm that the lighting was, in fact, different near the ChampionsGate exit from the rest of I-4. They told us that the newer, brighter lights are LED, while the older, yellower ones you normally see along the rest of I-4 are the older-style, high-pressure sodium lights.

They added that FDOT is moving toward LED lighting along I-4 because they're brighter and much more efficient.

FDOT officials said the lighting at ChampionsGate was installed in March because no lighting previously existed there. Moving forward, they will consider installing this kind of lighting at all areas where no lighting currently exists on I-4, I-95 and I-75.

We will let you know if and when more LED lights will be deployed along Florida's highways and thanks, Tony, for your submission.

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