Q. When will the lights in my road be replaced?
Installation of over 14,500 LED lights across the city will start in February 2018 and will take 18 months. Our contractor, Colas, will carry out the work in stages, based on zones.
We will update this web page with timescales when we have them.
Q. Will all lights be replaced?
No. We will not be replacing the following lights:
- special heritage or ornate street lights found in areas such as Old Portsmouth and parts of Southsea
- bespoke street lights
- subways
- illuminated traffic sign lights
- illuminated bollards.
Q. What disruption should I expect?
We are only replacing the lanterns at the top of the lamp column - and not the whole lamppost. The installation is very straightforward and should only take 15 minutes per streetlight to complete. You may experience some noise from the vehicle during work.
We will avoid causing an obstruction in the road where possible, however if contractors cannot park alongside the lamppost it may be necessary to put in place a temporary road closure. We will not need to disconnect the electricity supply to do this.
Notices will be placed on lampposts nearer the time to advise residents of a more specific date of when work will take place.
Q. Will I need to move my car?
It will be helpful if vehicles are moved away from the lamppost but not essential. If contractors cannot park alongside the lamppost it may be necessary close the road temporarily.
Notices will be placed on lampposts nearer the time to advise residents of a more specific date of when work will take place.
Q. My streetlight has never caused any problems in the past, so why is it being replaced?
Recently the cost of electricity has increased on average by 6% per year. In addition there is a requirement to work towards reducing our carbon emissions in line with the objectives set out in the Climate Change Act 2008. To achieve this we, like many other local authorities across the UK, are introducing LED lighting technology - lighting apparatus that consumes less energy.
Q. My street seems a lot brighter since the new lights have been fitted. Why is this?
Most Portsmouth streets still have the old yellow/amber discharge type lighting, which doesn't comply with British and European lighting standards. Because these lights do not meet these standards, they require replacing to bring them up to recommended standards.
The LED lighting project will do this and will increase light levels in some streets, whilst still providing energy savings, in contrast to the old lights, which were very energy inefficient.
Q. My street seems darker since the new lights have been fitted. Why is this?
The LED lights are manufactured using a flat glass luminaire, and fitted in a way to help reduce light pollution. The light distribution is mainly concentrated on to the roads and footpaths surface areas, meaning these are well lit, but at the same time avoiding any nuisance glare or intrusion of lighting into people's homes and gardens. However, where lampposts are positioned at the front or rear of footways, and are directly in front or adjacent to household properties, then some nuisance glare is unavoidable, however, this can be mitigated by either adjusting the tilt angle tilting the luminaire or by the fitting of a shield.
The sole function of street lighting is to light the highway to ensure we meet our duty of care to road and footpath users.
Q. If the council wants to save money - why doesn't it look to turning the lights down during the night when there are less people and fewer vehicles around?
The new LED lights will be fitted with technology that enables us to control the street lighting and vary lighting levels at certain times of the night. We won't be turning any street lights off, however, we may consider varying the lighting levels if both pedestrian and vehicle flow is reduced significantly during the early hours of the morning, for example.
We will be trialling variable lighting levels of the LED lights. The trials will be carried out in full consultation with Ward Councillors, the Police, and the City Safety Team.