Council turns Swindon’s traffic lights green
Swindon’s traffic lights have been switched to LEDs as the Council moves towards a greener future.
Published: Wednesday, 21st October 2020
Sixty-seven of Swindon’s traffic light sites have been upgraded from halogen bulbs to low power environmentally friendly LEDs. The upgrade will save Swindon Borough Council more than £33,000 in energy and maintenance costs per year and will reduce the Council’s annual carbon footprint by 66 tons of carbon dioxide.
The LEDs have a lower fault rate than their halogen predecessors, which will reduce the level of maintenance required for their upkeep and provide a more reliable experience for motorists and pedestrians.
The £193,000 scheme was funded by the Council through its capital budget for 2020/21. The scheme will take just under six years to repay and is expected to start realising savings by the end of 2020.
The new LEDs have been retrofitted into the existing traffic lights, which has reduced the cost, time on site, program length and waste generated by the scheme.
In total, 458 traffic light heads were upgraded, which is approximately 1,374 new LED red, amber and green light fittings. The traffic signal controllers at all 67 sites have also been upgraded to ensure they are compatible with the new LEDs.
There are currently 206 traffic light sites in Swindon and 151 sites now operate with LEDs. The remaining 55 halogen bulb sites are due to be replaced, refurbished, altered or removed through other council programmes.
Any traffic light sites that have been refurbished within the last 10 years will already have LEDs.
Councillor Maureen Penny, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Maintenance and Waste Services, said: “This is a glowing example of one of the many things the Council is doing to help reach carbon neutrality by 2030. So far we’ve already spent £15m on low carbon interventions to improve our local environment as part of our Carbon Reduction Strategy.
“This scheme, combined with our LED street lighting programme, solar energy farms and investment in electrical vehicles, amongst others, will help us deliver on government targets.
“I’m also very pleased that the scheme has caused little to no disruption for our residents and I hope that, going forward, our traffic lights provide a more reliable and safer experience for motorists and pedestrians on Swindon’s roads.”