If you’ve been driving at night on the freeway, you may have noticed that the light’s aren’t their normal hue. That’s not on purpose. WTMJ’s Debbie Lazaga has more.
It’s all due to a manufacturer defect. The LED lights that replaced the sodium vapor fixtures a few years ago, were not supposed to turn purple as the fixtures age. And we’re not talking about a slight “purplish” tint, we’re talking about a full-on blue or purple (bordering on black light-like) color.
Wisconsin DOT’s Regional Communications Manager, Mike Pyritz says it’s a manufacturer defect with the fixtures.
And rather than picking and choosing and trying to figure out which fixture is going to fail, the manufacturer will avoid the doubt. “Part of the agreement is, they’re going to replace all of the fixtures,” says Pyritz.
The Southeast Region of the state isn’t the only area that received these. Some of these fixtures were sent to other parts of the state and even were sent outside the state, so we’re not the only ones dealing with this.
The process of replacing all the fixtures has already started, and it’s expected to take about 10 weeks.
“We’re looking at a little after Thanksgiving into early December. A lot of it, of course, depends on the weather conditions that would allow the crews to get out there and safely make the swaps.” Pyritz explains.
And as per the agreement, the manufacturer will be picking up the cost.