Montgomery Launches Smart City Living Lab
The city has launched the latest initiative in its Smart City plan. Mayor Todd Strange, County Commission chairman Elton Dean, and Leslie Sanders of Alabama Power made the announcement Wednesday.
Together with Alabama Power and the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, the Montgomery Smart Community Alliance announced the formation of a smart corridor in areas of downtown Montgomery. Progress can already be seen in downtown as construction crews lay fiber optic cables that will be the back bone of the tech surge.
Free Wi-Fi connectivity, smart parking solutions, and the conversion of 22,000 streetlights to LED lights spearhead the efforts. Just the LED conversion alone is expected to save the city more than a half-million dollars over the next five years. Smart cameras in select areas will also benefit law enforcement
Mayor Strange says that the wi-fi connectivity should be available in the next 30 to 45 days, and he expects the lighting project to take 12 to 15 months. Strange also said that the smart corridor is just the beginning of Montgomery’s future as a smart city.
