In his daily dose of Lawrence news, reporter Chad Lawhorn mentioned the arrival of LED street lights. Here’s the blurb.

• An evening stroll down parts of Massachusetts Street may have a slightly different look to it in the near future. The City Commission on Tuesday is scheduled to finalize plans to install 115 LED street lights in downtown. The approximately $170,000 project is using money the city received through an energy efficiency grant that was part of the federal stimulus. The new lights are expected to reduce energy consumption by about 40 percent to 50 percent.

The lights also will look different from the 1970s-era type of lights that line Mass. Street. Gone will be the square poles and they’ll be replaced with a rounder pole that has more of an old-time cast-iron look. Here’s a picture of the new lights. I’m not sure how much different the actual beam of light itself will look. People tell me LED lighting is a bit softer of a light. There are some downtown today, so maybe you’ve noticed a difference. The lights are expected to arrive in about six weeks. City crews will do the installation.