Why purple lights continue to be seen in Winnipeg

Over the past year, Winnipeg drivers have been dealing with a strange problem on city streets: purple lights.

The LED bulbs are casting a purple or bluish glow on random streets throughout the city.

Manitoba Hydro said the colour change is caused by a manufacturer’s defect in the bulbs.

Each light has a phosphor coating that’s supposed to make the light appear white. But the coating is coming off the defective lights, causing the unusual colour.

“We’ve replaced to date, about 1,000 street lights that have been purple. We have about 750 that we know of still to be replaced. Those numbers may change as more reports from customers come in,” said Riley McDonald, the spokesperson for Manitoba Hydro.

This isn’t just a problem that is unique to Winnipeg, as Vancouver and other cities across North America are dealing with the same issue.

It’s an issue that Coun. Markus Chambers wants solved sooner rather than later.

“Criminals don’t occupy spaces that are well lit. So if these lights, a string of them along a block are purple, it’s not the best illumination,” said Chambers.

Hydro did note there hasn’t been a problem with replacing the LED lights and that it isn’t costing anything to replace them as they are still covered by the manufacturer warranty.