LED traffic lights in Nottingham – more reliable, fewer faults
Department for Transport funds 18-month programme to upgrade more than 100 junctions and crossings in Nottingham from halogen lamps to energy efficient LEDs.
Work is about to begin on a major new upgrade project to the street furniture of Nottingham. Funded by £631,000 from the government’s Department for Transport, the lights at some 60 junctions and 70 crossings will be changed from old-fashioned halogen lamps to new light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
Traffic light with new LED lights in Nottingham, photo courtesy of Transport Nottingham / Nottingham City Council
LEDs generate the same amount of light as halogen lamps but use considerably less energy to do so and with a much long lifespan – halogen lamps tend to last for between 1,000 and 2,000 hours while LED lamps can last up to 80,000 hours. That longer lifespan means fewer faults and a safer experience for road users.
By reducing the amount of energy and maintenance required, the LEDs will mean savings for the council and ratepayers in the longer term. In addition, the reduced energy required will contribute to air quality and environmental targets.
These benefits are clearly evident to the local council because more than 50% of traffic lights across the city have already been upgraded to LEDs. In 2022, a grant of £7m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund enabled Nottingham City Council to upgrade streetlights in all its wards with new, energy-efficient LEDs. Subway lighting and signage lights were also upgraded. LEDs were installed ward by ward, with the last installation completed in March of this year.
What’s more, last year Nottingham County Council completed a nine-year project to replace some 95,000 conventional sodium streetlights with LEDs. In fact, many local authorities are seeing the benefits of this kind of upgrade. We’ve reported on a range of similar projects, around the country – as well as on the penguin-friendly amber LEDs installed in Tahitai, New Zeland.
Cllr Neghat Khan, Leader and Executive Member for Strategic Regeneration, Transport and Communications at Nottingham City Council, says: ‘Ensuring our traffic lights are upgraded and working well will help keep our city moving and make Nottingham’s roads safer for everyone. These new lights will also have a positive impact on our environment and local air quality, reducing congestion and requiring less energy to operate, contributing towards our target of becoming carbon neutral by 2028.’
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