Street Lighting

Ministers have announced up to £1.5m for six local authority-led pilots to test the capacity for ‘smart multi-purpose columns’ – or lamp posts – to deliver smart services such as wifi or electric vehicle charging.

Surrey County Council is to convert all of its 89,000 street lights to LEDs over the next three years at a cost of £20m.

VolkerHighways has been awarded a street lighting contract with Medway Council, worth over £9m, that will see thousands of energy efficient lights installed.

Switching off street lights for part of the night would help moths and other nocturnal pollinators, new research has found.

Gateshead Council has been forced to hit back at a conspiracy theory which claims it is carrying out secret Government trials using its street lights.

The Government has confirmed funding totalling £30m for councils to improve road and cycle safety in towns and villages along the HS2 route between London and the West Midlands.

Essex County Council has launched a trial of ‘smart’ streetlights, with the potential to monitor pollution, create Wi-Fi hotspots and even guide driverless vehicles.

Hertfordshire County Council will complete the switchover of its streetlights to LEDs over the next three years at a cost of £18.5m.

Councils’ use of LED street lighting may need to be managed to reduce its impacts on the environment, according to new research.

Cheshire West and Chester council is upgrading over 24,000 street lights to LED (light-emitting diode) at a cost of £5m but aiming to save on energy and replacement costs.

John Fox, managing director of Lucy Zodion, explains why local government needs top-down support for smart city delivery.

The way spaces are lit can reinforce levels of inequality in urban areas, a new report argues.

Street lighting experts have suggested councils take another look at LED lamps after a Welsh authority discovered its existing strategy, based on part night lighting, is losing money on its budget due to falling energy prices.

Oxfordshire CC has been forced to cut its street lighting service to deliver emergency support only after a contractor implemented a break clause, raising safety concerns and potentially making some speed limits unenforceable.

Simon Corbett of Siemens on how smart city ambitions can be a reality for councils even in times of austerity.

Southend-on-Sea BC has accelerated its project to replace all street lights with LED lamps after securing a groundbreaking financial arrangement with the Green Investment Bank.

A county has signed a 12-year street lighting contract worth up to £41m in a bid to reduce energy consumption and cut long-term costs.

Councils can turn off street lights without triggering an increase in car crashes or local crime, analysis suggests.

Council chiefs, fire and rescue authorities (FRA) and motoring groups have all called for the current drink driving limits to be tightened in a bid to save scores of lives a year.

Harlow Council has pledged to turn streetlights back on after outlining budget proposals that would see council tax raised by 1.5% - an increase of 7p extra a week for the average Harlow household.

A leading road safety group has announced it is launching a study into the concerns of older drivers amid fears they could be ‘prisoners in their own homes’ due to difficult road conditions.

South Gloucestershire Council is selling unused speed cameras to the local police for a ‘nominal sum’ that could be as low as £1 a camera.

Hounslow Highways is installing new LED street lights in the top 60 crime hotspots in the borough, as part of a joint initiative with local police.

Cumbria County Council is set to approve new road lighting standards that could lead to thousands of old street lights being dimmed.

Planned Government reforms to key traffic sign regulations are due to be released for public consultation in the next few weeks the Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed.

Infrastructure firm FM Conway has landed three major highways maintenance and public realm contracts in the heart of London, worth up to £450m in total.

Plans to dim streetlighting, cut the number of ‘lollipop’ patrols and slash £3.4m from the road maintenance budget have been announced by Hampshire CC.

In the largest single investment to modernise main road street lighting in the capital, Transport for London (TfL) has unveiled an £11m improvement programme, aiming to cut energy use by 40% over the next three years.

Switched off street lights in Warwickshire contributed to the death of a student, a coroner has concluded.

A new code of practice has been released by the Department for Transport to ensure the correct safety procedures during highways works.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) has claimed the UK should invest more in infrastructure for growth.

Reform of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) should focus on economic growth and introduce financial certainty to the sector if it is to be successful, according to the British Property Federation (BPF).

The Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) has published new asset management guidance for highways infrastructure today.

Suppliers of transport infrastructure to London are benefiting commercially from the capital’s lack of long-term funding certainty, London Mayor Boris Johnson has complained.

UKIP councillors at East Sussex CC have called on officers to use miles not kilometres in documentation and signage in a bid ‘to continue being English’.

Concern has been raised by the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and Road Haulage Association (RHA) about recent Department for Transport (DfT) advice on annual statutory tests for garage technicians and mechanics driving HGVs.

Ealing LBC is to investigate the affordability of upgrading to LED bulbs in a bid to reduce energy savings by 50%.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced plans to radically overhaul the central legislation governing traffic sign design and use, with a revised version of the law planned for March 2015.

All the news from day one of Traffex,the 26th international traffic engineering, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), road safety, parking and highway maintenance exhibition.

The Department for Transport (DfT) needs to give councils more control over refranchising local schemes, a report on Whitehall decentralisation has claimed.

The Government could more than double its return on transport investments if local authorities were given more freedom to drive projects, ministers were told this week.

Dominic Browne looks at what City Deals mean for the future of local transport.

Nearly £150m has been set aside by Transport for London (TfL) for councils in the capital to undertake local transport schemes, it has been announced.

The Local Government Association (LGA) is assessing plans to pool town hall pension funds, to kick-start the country’s 500 stalled priority infrastructure projects.

What impact will the Autumn Statement have on local government funding?

This time last year saw chancellor George Osborne invest billions into infrastructure projects through what was described by the Treasury as an attempt to 'kickstart' economic growth.

The Department for Transport must give councils ‘the freedom to fail’ when funding for major local transport schemes is devolved from 2015, the president of Adept has told Surveyor.

The most ‘cluttered’ route in the country and remains difficult for disabled access, a survey claims.

Plans to run bendy buses on the proposed rapid-transit routes through Bristol have been scrapped by the city’s Liberal Democrat-run authority.

More regional City Deals designed to improve strategic area-based transport links, similar to the Leeds City region deal, could be on their way, according to cities minister Greg Clark.

Planning permission has been granted by Hounslow LBC’s sustainable development committee for the regeneration of Brentford lock west

The bidding process for two major funds designed to support sustainable transport projects closed today (24 February)

New legislation to remove bureaucracy and boost business investment has been introduced to Parliament.

Free parking should be available in Wales’ towns to encourage shoppers onto struggling high streets, the Conservatives have said.

Northumberland County Council has become the 85th local authority whose roadworks data is now available to the public for free through an online porta

Compost is not only for domestic and agricultural use. WRAP’s Landscape and Regeneration programme has been applying compost with recycled materials t

Christian Wolmar went to take a ride in one of the new urban light transit pods at Heathrow Airport - and was impressed at the scheme

Supporting mobility for the growing ‘older old’ demographic is already a challenge for local authorities, and the demands are likely to increase as health and social services increasingly regard active lifestyles as preventative medicine. Rhodri Clark reports. The ‘over 65’ category still appears sometimes

Normal 0 It is amazingly to reflect back only 6 months ago in the Spring that large swathes of the Country

Fusce a metus eu diam varius congue nec nec sapien