Skip to main content

UK county looking for major savings from Siemens traffic light upgrade

A major programme to upgrade traffic lights at 78 junctions and 100 pedestrian crossings across Norfolk, in the UK, with new energy-saving LED signals from Siemens is nearing completion. The retrofit project to supply, install and maintain all 178 sites is estimated to provide up to 78 per cent power consumption and carbon savings for Norfolk County Council (NCC). The new contract includes an innovative cost benefit payback solution provided by Siemens Financial Services.
May 14, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A major programme to upgrade traffic lights at 78 junctions and 100 pedestrian crossings across Norfolk, in the UK, with new energy-saving LED signals from 189 Siemens is nearing completion. The retrofit project to supply, install and maintain all 178 sites is estimated to provide up to 78 per cent power consumption and carbon savings for Norfolk County Council (NCC). The new contract includes an innovative cost benefit payback solution provided by Siemens Financial Services.

According to NCC’s Graham Harbord, team manager, ITS, all new traffic signal installations in Norfolk are equipped with Siemens extra low voltage (ELV) controllers and the benefits extend beyond energy and carbon savings. “Without the need to constantly replace lamps, maintenance costs are reduced and with no mains voltage on site every installation is safer. Overall, Norfolk will achieve significant long-term savings, taking into account the traffic management costs to provide and install the ELV equipment, the power and carbon savings as well as the cost to finance the project,” Harbord said.

Norfolk County Council worked alongside Siemens in identifying sites suitable for LED retrofit head replacement, the number of heads, the number and type of aspects and grouped the locations within the county so that a more efficient delivery programme could be agreed. “This joined up approach will reduce the works period, reduces travel and therefore C02 emissions while delivering the project,” Harbord said.

The finance facility offered to NCC helped enable the entire project to proceed because the savings generated helped make the project ‘self-financing’ and more affordable.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Migrating to advanced traffic management systems
    March 14, 2012
    Rich pickings of reduced cost and greater value are up for grabs as highway authorities migrate to new traffic management systems – if they choose their paths wisely. Jon Masters reports. Experience gained and expertise developed over the past decade are informing good advice for transport agencies contemplating new or expanded traffic management systems. Technological projects aimed at reducing road congestion may be frequently unique and invariably complex, but a picture is emerging of sensible, prudent a
  • Growing use of video monitoring in traffic management
    February 2, 2012
    The county-wide expansion of CCTV coverage in Florida Department of Transportation's District Four is detailed by Citilog's Eric Toffin
  • Adaptive traffic control with Sensys reduces congestion… and stress
    November 18, 2020
    Adapting to evolving traffic patterns can be difficult. Bad weather, accidents, events, construction work, and even business openings can alter traffic for hours, days, weeks, or longer.
  • The afterlife of spent electric vehicle batteries
    April 20, 2012
    Earlier this year, General Motors signed a definitive agreement with ABB Group to identify joint research and development projects that would reuse Chevrolet Volt battery systems, which will have up to 70 per cent of life remaining after their automotive use is exhausted. Recent research conducted by GM predicts that secondary use of 33 Volt batteries will have enough storage capacity to power up to 50 homes for about four hours during a power cut.