Austin Energy plans to complete the West Campus lighting upgrade by Fall 2023.

Austin, Texas – Serving as the main corridor for UT Austin students, West Campus has seen its fair share of crime.

Following a 2019 lighting study by the Austin Department of Transportation, the Austin Police Department and Austin Energy, problem areas were identified and efforts were made to make changes.

Austin Energy plans to complete the modernization work by autumn 2023.

“I spoke with project leaders recently and they have every reason to believe that the ongoing upgrades of these latest subprojects will be completed very timely, hopefully by early summer,” said Matt Mitchell, a spokesman. for Austin Energy.

By September 2022, Austin Energy crews replaced 600 street lights with LEDs, repaired broken lights, installed 15 additional street lights, and trimmed treetops.

Some of this work will be continued in the future.

“That’s one of the real benefits of doing a lighting study and then implementing those recommendations,” Mitchell said. “As you do this, you notice more places that could use light, where you could add extra light, you could add another light here or there, you could lift the tree canopy a bit here…. as we call them, we address right now.“

SafeHorns, a nonprofit campaigning for campus safety, was instrumental in the upgrade.

SafeHorns president Joel McNew shared a statement with FOX 7 on Monday:

“SafeHorns is grateful to Elton Richards and the Austin Energy operations team for working with us on this important project. All of the Cobra’s decorative pedestrian lighting and street lights have been changed from sodium to LED, a huge improvement. Austin Energy arborists also worked with us. SafeHorns is implementing the principles of CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) by raising the canopy of the tree so that citizens can see and be seen in a more uniform way. The project will add another 200 additional lights, which took longer due to construction, but we are looking forward to getting to work. which will be completed by the end of this year. Lighting is just one element of the crime prevention needed in the area, it has taken years. It is critical that the leadership of the City of Austin and the University of Texas collaborate and work with stakeholders to take action on other initiatives to improve the safety and quality of life for students and all citizens who live, work and play in the campus community at UT Austin.”