In 2010, the council made a commitment to invest in LED lighting technology to save money and reduce the environmental impact of our street lights.
Since then, a £25 million investment programme including upgrading the county’s street lights and replacing unnecessary highway lighting with better alternatives has been taking place. By 2018/19 all council operated street lights in Leicestershire will be using LED technology, a total of around 68,000 lights.
Once the programme is completed, the new lights are expected to save around £2 million per annum through a combination of reduced energy bills and lower maintenance costs, as the reliability of the LED bulbs is significantly better that traditional street lights.
[[{"fid":"11231","view_mode":"default","attributes":{"alt":"Comparison of traditional street lights (top) against the new LED lights","title":"Comparison of traditional street lights (top) against the new LED lights","height":"1920","width":"1440","style":"width: 459px; height: 537px;","class":"media-element file-default"},"fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Comparison of LED street lights against traditional lights","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Comparison of LED street lights against traditional lights"},"type":"media"}]]
The new energy saving and cost efficient lights will also be controlled through a central management system, which will allow for any faults to be rectified quickly. Some of the new LED lights will also become part of the county’s part night lighting programme - where some lights are dimmed or turned off during night-time hours - which has been progressing across the county since 2014.
If your street hasn’t already had the lights replaced yet, don’t worry, as the council’s installation teams are working their way around the whole county to deliver the programme.
For the latest information about this and other programmes make sure you follow Leicestershire County Council on Twitter .