City officials hope lighting upgrades will improve safety in Uptown Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, NC — Shining a light on safety. Duke Energy is making improvements to the lighting in uptown. City leaders and people who visit at night hope the changes will make it safer.

Tuliyah Frazier visits Uptown a couple of weekends per month, usually with her guard up.

“I do get a little bit weary, a little bit nervous at night when I’m kind of, like, ending the night or kind of going into the evening when it’s getting a little later,” explained Frazier.

City officials are hoping a change in lighting will turn trepidation into an invitation to Charlotte’s metropolitan.

“Some people are a little hesitant to come uptown because they feel like it’s a little too dark, a little too dim. So this program in particular, with the new technology that they’re installing it will be it will create a much brighter experience and a much safer environment,” said Charlotte City council member, Dante Anderson.

Duke Energy announced on Thursday an initiative to upgrade hundreds of street lights around Uptown with brighter, energy efficient LED technology. They say that swap will make the lighting brighter and more reliable.

“The lights will be equipped with new smart controls, allowing digital monitoring and fast outage response, which is important because real time visibility is critical step in creating a more modern, responsive urban infrastructure,” said Duke Energy’s Sasha Weintraub.

The first upgrades will be along Tryon and will expand to 30 additional streets within the I-277 loop.