31/10/2019

Timaru District Council has received New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) confirmation that they will provide additional $1.09 million funding for the LED street lights project.

The funding will enable the replacement of the remaining higher wattage sodium lanterns on the major roads across the Timaru District with LED lights. Most side streets were completed between 2016 and 2019.

Council Land and Transport Manager, Andrew Dixon, says that the NZTA funding accounts for 85% of the total project cost.

“The additional funding was approved following an extremely rigorous business case process that demonstrates that the costs will be returned through savings in less than nine years,” Dixon says.

“The street lights conversion work on the District’s minor roads was completed earlier this year, so this time we will be focusing on our major roads such as Wai-iti and Otipua.

“The street lights to be replaced now are the higher wattage lanterns that light up our major roads. These lights are currently 150W and 250W and will be replaced with equivalent LED lights at 100W and 150W respectively.

“Compared to the higher wattage sodium lanterns, LED lights are more energy efficient and have lower maintenance costs over their lifespans.

“There is not only a cost saving to be made here, but their energy efficiency and long lifespan means that LED lights will help reduce overall carbon emissions as well.”

The State Highway street lights will not be included in this project as the replacement of these is managed by NZTA directly.

The installation work is expected to start in January and be completed mid-2020.

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