Brighter lights for city streets
The streets of Lower Hutt could soon be bathed in white light as the council plans to replace the existing street lights with LED lamps.
The Hutt City Council has had an ongoing programme to replace the old sodium street lights since 2014 and will apply for a New Zealand Transport Agency subsidy to speed up the replacement.
The agency recently announced it would co-invest in LED street lighting with local authorities.
Traffic asset manager Damon Simmons said the plan was to use the subsidies to replace lights in residential streets and minor roads around the city by the end of 2018.
‘‘If successful we will utilise the increased subsidy to speed up the LED replacement. This represents great value for our ratepayers, as the number of lights we can replace with LEDs will be trebled with no additional spend of ratepayer funds. We should find out in late August about our application.’’
LED lamps offer a number of advantages over the sodium lights which have been in place for more than 30 years.
They provided a higher standard of lighting for city streets, were easier to maintain and used less energy than the sodium street lights, Simmons said. They used 25 to 50 per cent less power and had a life of 10 to 15 years as opposed to the four to five-year lifespan of the old lights.
LED lamps had a whiter light and produce less ‘‘spill’’ - meaning the light is more concentrated.
The difference between the two can be seen on Wainuiomata Hill Rd where LED replacement has been completed on one side of the road.
Other areas already upgraded are Queen Street in Wainuiomata and the Stokes Valley-Eastern Hutt Rd roundabout.