Essex lighting programme switching on

Ringway Jacobs starts work this week on a project to replace all-night lighting along the A127 with new energy-saving LED lamps as part of a project aimed at saving Essex County Council £600,000-a-year.

So far 6,200 LED lamps have been installed in Basildon, Rochford, Castle Point, Uttlesford and Chelmsford with Braintree next on the list.

Cllr Eddie Johnson, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “The A127 is one of the busiest routes we are responsible for in the county.”

The changes are part of a two-year programme to upgrade 19,000 all-night streetlights across the county to LEDs to reduce maintenance costs.

The work will be carried out using overnight lane closures to reduce disruption to the travelling public.

“I have a responsibility to keep our hardworking highways staff safe and that is why these works will require some lane closures,” added Mr Johnson.

“These works will be taking place overnight, outside of peak hours, in a bid to create as little disruption as possible for the driving public.

“Please be patient with us as these new LED lights will not only help improve driving conditions, but they will help save taxpayers money in the long run through reductions in electricity and maintenance costs.”

Over 10,000 lights were repaired in the final quarter of 2016 – up from 8,247 units repaired in Q3 – but the last three months of last year also saw a 2.6% rise in thre percentage of broken street lights in Essex, which the council attributes to lights being on for longer due to shorter daylight hours.