Multi-million pound project will see all county’s A-road streetlights upgraded

Starting from this month, Herts County Council is modernising 12,600 streetlights on all A-roads including in Dacorum.

The traditional lamps will be replaced by LEDs or ‘light-emitting diodes’, which have many benefits and advantages including being eco-friendly and more energy-efficient.

Council cabinet member for highways Terry Douris said: “The conversion of our existing lights to this modern technology forms part of our on-going 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.

“Disruption will be kept to a minimum, and we apologise if you do encounter delays to your journey but would ask everyone for their co-operation while the work is in progress.”

According to the authority, the project will cost £6.5million, but will bring savings of around £660,000 every year from the end of 2015 onwards.

The scheme will also allow for the streetlights to be controlled and monitored centrally.

The system will also mean light levels will be reduced at night, so between 11pm to 6am when there is fewer traffic on the roads, the brightness of all the lights will be reduced by up to 25%.

The part-night lighting system in place in B-roads in the county will continue to operate, and there are no plans at this stage to replace the existing lamps in residential roads.

The work will be carried out by council contractor Ringway overnight in order to minimise disruption on the busy A-roads, though there may still be minor delays for motorists due to associated traffic management.

All residents and businesses on the A-roads will be notified of when the work is planned to be carried out, which will take place 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

For more information visit www.hertsdirect.org/streetlights