Rollout of upgrade to lighting columns on major roads

Lighting columns on major roads in Cheshire West and Chester are getting a technological and environmentally-friendly makeover.

Over 11,000 lights will be upgraded during a programme of work scheduled to be completed by September 2022.

A previous project, completed in 2019, saw 32,000 streetlights in residential areas updated using more energy efficient LED (light-emitting diode) lights.

The programme to update to LED on major roads in the borough began in Chester on 1 June and will move around the borough based on the availability of road space to minimise the disruption on major roads.

The Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Councillor Karen Shore said: “The key objective of our LED replacement programme is to reduce carbon emissions and make savings on energy consumption costs.  It is hoped the new LED lights will achieve savings of around 50 per cent on our energy consumption."

Lane closures will be needed while the work takes place but there should be minimal disruption to traffic and no road closures are currently planned.