Street lights to be upgraded in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire County Council is spending £6.5 million on upgrading more than 12,600 street lights on all A-roads across the county.

As part of the local authority’s road improvement projects, extensive work will be carried out to convert all A-road street lights to LEDs (light emitting diodes) which have many benefits and advantages over the conventional lamps used currently.

Terry Douris, cabinet member for highways and waste management, said: “The conversion of our existing lights to this modern technology forms part of Hertfordshire County Council's ongoing commitment to maintain and improve our roads for the benefit of all road users in Hertfordshire. The new LEDs use much less energy than conventional streetlights, improve visibility for road users and can be controlled and monitored centrally which in turn reduces costs for all.”

The project will cost £6.5m, but will bring savings of around £660,000 every year from the end of 2015 onwards. It also means that the street lights can be controlled and monitored centrally. The system allows for light levels to be reduced at night too, so between 11pm to 6am the level of light will be reduced by up to 25%.

The work will be carried out by Ringway on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council.

The upgrades will be carried out in two districts at a time in the following order:

- Stevenage and east Watford

- North Herts and St Albans

- East Herts and Dacorum

- Broxbourne and Welwyn/Hatfield

- Three Rivers, west Watford and Hertsmere.