In a major milestone, 30% of Canberra’s streetlights have been replaced with the ACT Government embarked on resurfacing 1 million m2 of roads to keep Canberrans moving.
“These two programs are a part of the ACT Government’s commitment to providing better city services for Canberrans,” Minister for Roads and Active Travel, Chris Steel said.
Under the Government’s new streetlight contract which began in May 2018, a quarter of Canberra’s streetlights have now been upgraded to environmentally friendly and brighter LED lamps. Since the program started, over 24,500 of Canberra’s 80,000 streetlights have been upgraded.
“The rollout of new streetlights has generated a 32% energy saving, three per cent more than forecast by this time,” said Minister Steel.
The new LED lamps have seen an overall improvement in energy efficiency as well as improving visibility.
“Unlike regular streetlights, the light output from LED luminaires is highly directional, which means more light can be directed towards where it is needed, resulting in less wasted and nuisance light,” Minister Steel said.
It is expected that the streetlights will eventually provide a reduction of 20,000,000 kilowatt hours per year in energy consumption.
The Minister also announced the beginning of the annual road resurfacing program which will see over 230 lane kilometres, or approximately 1,000,000 square metres of roads resurfaced in 21 ACT suburbs this financial year.
“Municipal streets in Tuggeranong and Weston Creek are among the regions to benefit this year as part of our investment of $16.2 million for road resurfacing.”
“Our continued investment in road resurfacing ensures that we can meet our target of 4% of municipal roads and 5% of main roads being resurfaced this year to keep Canberrans moving.”
“Resurfacing our roads ensures the life of our roads and improves safety by covering small cracks and imperfections, making sure Canberrans can continue to move around our city safely and efficiently.”
A number of major roads will also be resealed as part of the program including sections of Isabella Drive, Tuggeranong Parkway, Kingsford Smith Drive, Belconnen Way, Gungahlin Drive and Well Station Drive. A further 100,000 square metres of other resurfacing works including asphalt overlays and microsurfacing will be conducted on Tuggeranong Parkway, Streeton Drive, and Belconnen Way.
