They will work fine. iv seen thousands of street lights, and never seen one go BOOM, that should tell you how rare it is. Its also very simple to make the ballast into a remote unit. The only thing I agree with is the bulb itself is substandard. but they will work until you get better bulbs. just find out what wattage they are running, and get better bulbs when you can.
Check out my $0 box journal, I have a 175wMH that is super old, works great. Also have 2 100w HPS that are newer, and while the bulbs might not be the best, they are working great...