Street lights to be replaced on Solihull’s main roads

Solihull Council has begun modernising thousands of street lights on the borough’s main roads as the second phase of its Street Lighting Replacement Programme kicks-off.

Around 5,300 of the borough’s Mercury Blended Filament Unit (MBFU) street lights will be replaced with new, energy efficient LED lamps.

The LED lamps provide a better quality of light, with improved definition and less light pollution.

They will be lit specifically for the road they are located on according to British design standards to ensure the correct level of light.

They are also more efficient – the old 150W and 250W lamps cost respectively around £75 and £125 each to run per year – in comparison, the LED replacements will cost roughly between £25 and £45 to run each year.

This follows the successful replacement of over 6,000 mercury lamps with LEDs on many of the boroughs residential roads since May 2014; as part of the programme’s first phase.

The programme itself follows a review of street lighting in 2012 which noted that 27% of the Council’s carbon emissions came from the old MBFU street lamps. It also highlighted a need to reduce the carbon footprint as well as introduce cost-saving measures.

It is predicted that energy savings from the entire programme will top £275,000 per annum and will save approximately 1,500 tonnes of carbon.

The programme will also standardise the borough’s street lighting and therefore help to cut maintenance costs.

Councillor Ted Richards, Cabinet Member for Transport and Highways said: “Some of our street lighting is nearly fifty years old so this is a really positive change for the borough.

“While other local authorities are turning off street lights, we are keeping ours on, making them more effective, cheaper and less harmful for the environment.

“This replacement programme will go some way in ensuring that by 2022, the borough’s energy usage and carbon emissions will have been minimised as far as practically possible.”

The 5,300 street lights to be replaced are located on the following main roads: Bradford Road, Chester Road, Collector Road, Kenilworth Road, Stratford Road and Warwick Road.

Read more: http://www.solihull.gov.uk/news/ArtMID/820/ArticleID/1383/Let-there-be-light