Replacing public lighting: safer and more energy efficient
The Municipality of Kerkrade is making efforts to maintain public lighting in the town. Where necessary, light poles and street lighting fixtures are replaced.
Three things are considered when determining whether and where to replace streetlights: durability, functionality and safety.
Sustainability
Sustainability and saving energy are becoming increasingly important. Therefore, when maintaining street lighting, we also work to further reduce energy consumption. This is done by replacing outdated fixtures and defective fixtures with new fixtures with LED lamps. LED bulbs are sustainable; they use little energy and last a long time. Even when installing entirely new lighting, LED lamps are of course used.
Because each year more obsolete old fixtures have been replaced with LED lamps, the energy consumption of public lighting in Kerkrade has been declining for several years.
Sustainable LED lighting everywhere
The City Council's decision to allocate more money for this year's replacement of public lighting allows for a significant increase in the pace of replacement. "And this is good news on several levels," Alderman Tim Weijers (Public Space) let us know, "This acceleration not only benefits sustainability and safety, but also helps reduce energy costs."
Functionality
Old fixtures and fittings that are no longer working properly are replaced to prevent street lights from being out for long periods of time. The light poles themselves are also checked and replaced as needed.
Safety
Good street lighting makes people feel safer. Good lighting is also important for traffic safety; it provides better visibility for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
We are therefore looking at where the light quality of the public lighting can be further improved so that the public space remains safely usable even after sunset.
