City Council to turn off 170 street lights to save £60,000

[dutchman]

A total of 170 lights will be turned off on four main roads in the south of the city as a cost-cutting scheme is extended.

The council says it has saved £10,000 in six months by turning off the lights on part of the A444 - and six times that can be saved under the latest plan.

Four other roads will now be part of the switch-off. In the Allesley area, 34 lights in Pickford Way, 45 on the A45 Birmingham Road and 43 on Dunchurch Highway will be turned off.

A further 48 lights in Kenilworth Road - heading out towards Kenilworth from the A45 - will also be switched off.

However, Coventry City Council has said it will stick to a policy of keeping lights on at pathways and junctions for those stretches of road affected by the latest changes.

Council officials claim the switch off will save almost £60,000 per year in maintenance and electricity costs as well as saving 216 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Advance notice signs are due go up along the routes to inform drivers about the trial switch off which will begin on most of the roads in early July.

The Kenilworth Road turn-off is expected to start slightly later as work to replace existing street lighting is completed.

The latest switch off follows a pilot scheme to kill about 130 of the 250 street lights along the A444 between Binley Road, near Gosford Green, and the Ricoh Arena roundabout.

Those lights have been switched off for the last six months.

Coun Rachel Lancaster, cabinet member for public services, said: “The scheme to switch off some of the lights on the A444 has been a success so far.

“So much so that we will now be adding in four more roads and extending the trial for another six months.

“This is about the prudent management of council resources and identifying roads that aren’t used by pedestrians – where traffic has no need to stop – and trialling an idea that will save cash and reduce our carbon footprint.

“We intend to run the trial into 2015 – with lighting on the four new roads being switched off in early July.

“This is a good time to start because it’s light for a long time into the evening – so drivers who use the roads often will get used to it gradually.

“A great deal of research has already been undertaken and I am sure that lots of drivers will have driven on sections of motorway and other roads that aren’t lit at all. Lots of other towns and cities are also switching off lights on roads like this.”

Coun Lancaster previously dismissed concerns over safety when the trial switch off on the A444 was announced.

She also said the council would not switch off lights in residential areas as has happened in parts of Warwickshire.