Crews have begun the task of replacing all street lights in the province with LED bulbs.

David Korchynski is with MyTEC, the crew subcontracted by Manitoba Hydro that is currently doing the work in Steinbach. Korchynski says there are about five hundred bulbs needing to be

replaced in Steinbach. The work started earlier this winter but then came to a stop after only three weeks.

"Just too cold sometimes," he says. "Can't work the machinery, the hydraulics don't work in the cold and neither do I."

He notes days like Tuesday where the temperature is around -15 degrees is about all they can handle.

Korchynski says the changeover is a government program. He says LED lights use about one-third the power, while lasting ten times longer.

Korchynski guesses it will take them about two weeks to finish up Steinbach but as long as five months to finish the whole Steinbach area, where about 13,500 bulbs are needing to be replaced. According to Korchynski they can tackle about four per hour.

But that is still only the tip of the iceberg. According to Korchynski, there are approximately half a million of these lights in the province; a project that could take up to four years to finish.

Korchynski asks motorists to be on the lookout and to drive with caution around these workers.