More than 700 Shropshire Council streetlights are set to be converted to LED lighting this month.
Since 2013, over 7,900 of the more than 20,000 lights owned by the council have been converted from conventional ‘sodium discharge’ or mercury lighting to LED lighting. By the end of the year, the remaining streetlights will have been converted.
Work began on 6 February, and by Easter approximately 700 lights in Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Whitchurch had been converted.
Over the course of April, a further 700 lights across 66 roads are scheduled for LED conversion across the county.
Richard Marshall, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and regulatory services, said: “Shropshire Council is responsible for 20,000 streetlights and all are being replaced with LEDs. This will save money for the council and for council tax payers, and reduce carbon emissions.
“Converting our remaining streetlights to LED lighting is something that will save us well over £1m a year once the conversion programme is complete.
“We’re currently working hard to tackle a backlog of antiquated lighting in need of repair, and the new LED lanterns will help to speed up this process and result in fewer faulty or failed streetlights in future.”
It’s estimated that the total cost of the conversion work will be £6.3m. Of this, 44% is being paid through an interest-free loan from Salix Finance.
The conversion will save the council more than £1m a year in reduced energy and maintenance costs once the conversion is complete, and save almost 7,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.
The new LED lanterns are expected to have a lower failure rate and a much longer life expectancy than standard street lights, significantly reducing ongoing maintenance.
Kier Highways, which is delivering the work on behalf of Shropshire Council, will assess the structural and electrical condition of the streetlight columns as it reaches each area. Where the columns require additional works this will form part of an upcoming programme of work.
