Students will soon be enlightened by the results of an about $1 million lighting project throughout the campus.

Kevin Bame, vice chancellor for administration and finance, said the new LED lights being installed are part of a $30 million deferred maintenance project.

The university decided on LED because they are brighter and more energy efficient, according to Bame. He said the first phase of the in-house project is changing the lights from U.S. 51 to Thompson Point, and the second phase will be assembling the lights from Thompson Point along Lincoln Drive over to South Normal Avenue.

Phil Gatton, the director of Plant and Service Operations, said previous light bulbs lasted about two to three years, while LEDs will last eight to 10 years.

Bame expects to activate several of the new lights by the end of the month.

The new light standards are 10 feet shorter than the current ones and have thinner heads, with multiple small lights on the inside panel.

Bame said while LED lights are whiter and brighter, they are also energy efficient and can be set to point a specific direction.

“A lot of light bulbs just throw out light everywhere – all over – but these will allow you to pinpoint if you’ve got an area that’s a little darker,” he said.

Bame said the new poles allow the university to run fiber optics through them, to improve wireless coverage on campus.

Instead of long trenches, equipment was brought to the campus that drills a horizontal hole and installs a flexible polyethylene tube, which is used to hold the fiber optic cables.

Michael Shelton, deputy director of information technology, said the new coverage will allow people to study outside.

“Students will be able to get wifi in a large portion of the outdoor spaces on campus,” Shelton said. “Students will be able to do homework, email and social network in an area where wifi isn’t currently available.”

About 20 new cameras are being installed at heavily used intersections, costing about $100,000.

Bame said another one of the projects on the “laundry list of things we want to accomplish with $30 million,” is the renovation of Pulliam Hall, which will cost roughly $8 million.

Jayson Holland contributed to this story.

Luke Nozicka can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @LukeNozicka,  or at 536-3311 ext. 254