Why are the street lights purple in Fort Worth?

People have been randomly seeing purple street lights around Fort Worth for months now.

“I think they are very beautiful,” said neighbor Marvita Moser.

“I don’t like them because they are distracting while driving,” neighbor Sarah Richmond said.

Like it or not, there is a reason for the purple lights. And not to show support for the TCU football team before the national title match.

“The phosphate coating on LEDs degrades over time. And when it decays, it turns purple LED lights into purple,” said Fort Worth Transportation and Public Works Commissioner Brandon Callicote.

The city says that this is a factory defect of a batch of LED lamps installed in 2017.

“This is a strange defect,” Moser said.

The City of Fort Worth has already identified 1,100 defective LED lights and expects more to come.

“Over time, we started to notice even more than when we first did the assessment,” Callicote said. show signs.

Manufacturer: Acuity Brands.

“We’re not the only lighting manufacturer to face this issue,” says Acuity Brands’ Cathy Lewandowski. “This light output is in no way harmful or unsafe.”

“As always, we are responsible for the quality of our products, and we are actively working with customers affected by this issue to resolve and satisfactorily resolve any issues,” she added.

“Great. I won’t be back soon,” Richmond said.

Since this is a factory defect, the city does not pay for a replacement.

“It’s just an inconvenience and sometimes an eyesore,” Callicote said. “A lot of people like them. Citizens have approached us and said they want to file a petition to keep them.”

While some may be fascinated by purple, they will all be refurbished. The city estimated last week that it could take three to four months.

You can report street lighting problems via My Fort Worth App or call 817-392-1234.

Below is the full manufacturer’s statement.

“Said “blue light” effect is due to a spectral shift caused by phosphor shift observed years after initial installation. Blue light has been observed in a small percentage of our AEL® brand luminaires and we are not the only lighting manufacturer to experience this issue. This light output is in no way harmful or unsafe, and we no longer use the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) that caused this spectral shift.

Acuity Brands uses state-of-the-art LED components from leading manufacturers and has a strategic supply chain and engineering processes in place to ensure our products continue to deliver industry-leading performance. As always, we are responsible for the quality of our products, and we actively work with customers affected by this problem to solve and resolve any problems satisfactorily..”