Street Lighting Street Lighting

&
Traffic Signals

LIGHTING HISTORY (UK) LIGHTING FOR THE COMMUNITY

 UK 1415  Residential streets

 rates > 10 pounds candles in front of houses  Town squares / parks
 17th to 18th Century  Public and private buildings

lights on wooden poles, later cast iron

  Monuments
brackets
 1771 City of Birmingham

– 700 Street Lights  But, let’s look at road infrastructure

 Early 19th Century  Can be part of the original design or retrofitted
– changed from oil to gas
 Late 19th Century
– electricity

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LIGHT LOCATED AT BACK OF FOOTPATH PURPOSE OF STREET LIGHTING FOR
WITH LONGER OUTREACH ARM
ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

 Safety of road users

 Amenity/’socio’ reasons, e.g reduction in crime

WHY HAVE STREET LIGHTING? AS A CRASH COUNTERMEASURE

 USA (1977) Study  Several studies publishes show:

– 50% of all road crashes occur at night
– effective crash countermeasure
 UK (1976) Study
– 38% of all road crashes occur at night – 30% average reduction of night time crashes on
arterial roads
Can we be confident that this pattern hasn’t changed?
– economically viable on urban traffic routes
So why street lighting???

BUT……….we need to be careful……..

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POTENTIAL HAZARD WITH LIGHTING HOW DOES IT WORK ?
THE OBJECTIVES OF STREET LIGHTING
 Lighting poles can be a serious roadside hazard
in their own right  Must reveal all necessary visual information

 of the road
 alignment
 adjoining facilities - footpaths
 street furniture – signs, bus stops etc.

TYPES OF REFLECTIONS
LIGHTING PRINCIPLES

 Illuminance
 light falling onto the surface

 Luminance
– light reflected from the surface

Luminance is what the driver sees

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HOW STREET LIGHTING WORKS LIGHTING AND ROAD SAFETY AUDIT

 Objects are seen in contrast  Don’t forget to consult your checklists…….

 Make the road surface appear bright using
reflective properties  Visibility
 Light reflects to reveal objects in silhouette  sufficient light levels, hazards lit, glare kept to a minimum
 Guidance
 lighting should guide the driver of the road alignment ahead
 Roadside Hazard
 location of street lighting poles

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REDUCING THE SEVERITY OF ROADSIDE

HAZARDS
 Mount as far back from the road as practicable
 Use slip based or collapsible light poles

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 DIAGRAM OF IMPACT ABSORBING POLE DIAGRAM SHOWING WHAT HAPPENS
DESIGN WHEN SLIP BASED POST IS HIT

nb. the pole falls somewhere!

nb. must be correctly installed!

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STREET LIGHTING WILL NOT FIX POOR DESIGN!!

 Lighting should be used to compliment good road design

Traffic Signals

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 TRAFFIC SIGNALS TRAFFIC SIGNAL OVER USE, THESE ARE BEING
USED AS A SCULPTURE IN LONDON UK

 Are used at intersections with high traffic volumes to

control traffic, so as to:
 reduce right angled crashes

 Can however increase rear end crashes

TRAFFIC SIGNALS COMPLEX TRAFFIC SIGNALS, PERHAPS A

LITTLE TOO CONFUSING

 Do not solve all traffic problems. They can:

 increase waiting time
 create congestion
 cause frustration
 increase rear end crashes
 require maintenance
 contingencies for ‘faults’

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TRAFFIC SIGNALS ARE TYPICALLY USED TO CONCEPT TRAFFIC SIGNAL TO ASSIST
CONTROL MORE COMPLEX INTERSECTIONS COLOUR BLIND DRIVERS, USING SHAPES AS
WELL AS COLOURS

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TRAFFIC SIGNALS DESIGN AS A CRASH COUNTERMEASURE

 Look for:  Several studies publishes show:

 pedestrian issues
 crash patterns  effective crash countermeasure
 turning movements
 speed environment  30% average reduction of night time crashes on
 are all turning lanes of adequate length arterial roads

 economically viable on urban traffic routes

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TRAFFIC SIGNALS HUNG OVER ROAD IN USA AVOID INFORMATION OVERLOAD AT TRAFFIC
SIGNALS

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