North West Streetlighting

[sotonsteve]

So if the council get Colas in, it's just an ordinary contract.

Down my way Southampton City Council have their own street lighting crews, who do routine maintenance. Replacement schemes are subcontracted to Colas. The council have the materials available to them to do it themselves, but they've involved a private company, probably with a small extent of transferring jobs from the public to private sector. When it comes to street lighting, it is not uncommon for employees of the previous company/council to be transferred over to the new company/council's paylist.

[traffic-light-man]

I don't quite understand what you mean.

AIUI, if the council directly gets Colas to install a job, that job's been contracted to Colas.

AIUI, if the council directly gets Colas to install a job, but Colas then get Southern Energy (for example) to actually install the job, that job's been subcontracted to SE by Colas on behalf of the council.

[sotonsteve]

I see what you mean now

Nethertheless wallasey, in my original statement, replace the word "subcontracting" with the word "contracting" and the same remains true.

[traffic-light-man]

Yes it does indeed

I'm not sure wether PFIs are counted as contracts by the council or whatever, and therefore if the PFI company contracted out it would be subcontract. Or is the PFI not a contract and therefore it would still just be a contract?

[autosignguy]

Good to be back here!
I've noticed the new silver hockeysticks with Thorn Beta 5's seem to be common now across Liverpool, although the regulatory grey is used elsewhere.

Still seeing Arcs being used (as in Maser Close, off Long Lane), but they're not that common now.

Would it be good for Liverpool City Council to use the WRTL 2601 and retrofit it to old columns - instead of the ugly grey-canopied Delta?

[Dan123]

Sure is good to be back

Found an interesting development in the Wavertree area of City last week! On Towerlands Street, Fabrikat columns with MA60's and MRL6's are being replaced with the following columns seen here: http://www.liverpoolstreetgallery.com/d ... t=0&pos=27.
Looks quite unusual as only a small part of the road has seen them installed so far and no CU Columns have yet been replaced! Will see if I can get a pic.

Auto:

The Delta seems to be pretty rare in the City from what i've noticed? Only recall seeing them in a few estates. Also around parts of the Speke retail park there's 2601's and delta's too I think? Any kind of retrofit on Highfield installtion's wouldnt go amiss I reckon alothough the 2601 would probably look a bit out of place?

[autosignguy]

Looks similar to the WRTL 2600 to me.

Saying that, WRTL Arcs look too futuristic for a very English city - a bit Euro or American. Using the WRTL IRIS on a hockeystick (maybe with fiberglass over the metal painted to look like concrete) - it would look good.

[wallasey]

Liverpool never really took to the Delta...this was more a Sefton-Knowsley thing. It's just like how there's only a handful of Riga's and P567's dotted around. I have to say, The deep bowled Arc's for side streets wasn't their finest hour.

And now for something completely different...

Manchester hasn't just been installing Iridium's...the city centre is now comprised of these...


I've looked at DW Windsor, Urbis and Woodhouse but to no avail. Any ideas???

Middleton is still clinging onto some great survivors...



The Stanton's were installed by Middleton Borough as it was; the lanterns are causing me some trouble. Originally, I thought they might have been GEC (the closest match is a Z9450) but after looking, these aren't "boxy enough" to fit the spec. They could be Phosware P127's?? In the background is a Selenium...Rochdale MBC seem to have turned towards the Iridium's lesser used sister lantern!

Oldham As always had a few treats instore...


Now I was told this model, but in the midsts of time, I have forgotten! A similar lantern was on fotopic, I went past that installation today, and it is still with us. The column is a Stanton with a small hockey bracket. You wonder how it is able to support such a bulky lantern!


A little further on, Golden Ray's (MK7's) were found


Elsewhere in the town, this great Stanton relic with a top entry GEC Z9454 may have a limited life...it's neighbours have been replaced by post top Arcs!


To bringing us back up to date, Huddersfield Road is lined with these post top Trafficvisions.

I hope you enjoyed the selection of images...there's a few lanterns to think about!

[sotonsteve]

Manchester hasn't just been installing Iridium's...the city centre is now comprised of these...


I've looked at DW Windsor, Urbis and Woodhouse but to no avail. Any ideas???

Middleton is still clinging onto some great survivors...



The Stanton's were installed by Middleton Borough as it was; the lanterns are causing me some trouble. Originally, I thought they might have been GEC (the closest match is a Z9450) but after looking, these aren't "boxy enough" to fit the spec. They could be Phosware P127's?? In the background is a Selenium...Rochdale MBC seem to have turned towards the Iridium's lesser used sister lantern!

Those in Manchester city centre look like the Philips City Soul. As for those oldies on the concretes, the second one is definately a Wardle Atholl.

[Gram587]

Oldham As always had a few treats instore...


Now I was told this model, but in the midsts of time, I have forgotten! A similar lantern was on fotopic, I went past that installation today, and it is still with us. The column is a Stanton with a small hockey bracket. You wonder how it is able to support such a bulky lantern!

I'm pretty sure this is a GEC Z8256.These were very common on the Fylde Coast until the mid 80s. I'm amazed that these still exist in Oldham! Do you know if these still run Fluorescent? If so this just makes them even rarer! What a trip down memory lane to see one of these lanterns still extant! There used to be one outside my auntie's house in Fleetwood when I was little which was on exactly the same column as the one pictured! It used to fascinate me when I was young!

[traffic-light-man]

Brilliant! I love those Wardles, and moreso the GEC Flourecent (As was?) lantern too! It's amazing that the bowl doesn't even appear discoloured, is this as a result of not having SOX?

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It should also be noted whilst I'm here, that the new 3-MH-flood-lights-to-a-post lighting now lighting the Strand in Liverpool besides Liverpool One has now been extended north up to where the Dock Road splits, however is still unoperational and the old Liverpool lighting is still working for the time being.

[wallasey]

Sotonsteve: Thanks for the identifications! The Phillips lanterns were certainly different; they have been installed on almost every side road in the city centre. I should have looked over Wardle! All remaining vintage lanterns on this road were the same, retrofits on the Stanton's were MA50's with the odd new casual replacement.

Gram587: Oldham still has a few lingering around here and there! This wasn't the only one I saw during the day, but it was the best example. Most of them are hidden away in side roads and cul-de-sacs.

traffic-light-man: The interesting thing about Oldham is that in the main, they clean their lanterns. The old council website used to state how often this was done, but since I last went on, they have changed the layout. You may have noticed the Mark 7 Golden Ray also looked clean for its age???

[traffic-light-man]

Wow, I don't think I recall hearing about lanterns being cleaned before! That's fantastic if they do!

The MA SOX lighting along the M62 J6 inbound into Liverpool is still going strong, with only a few casual replacements - which happen to be Arcs, Knowsley's current lantern of choice. Roadworks are carried out by A.one+ though, Area 10 maintanence contractor... Begs the question yet again, HA owned or LA owned?

[wallasey]

Speaking of lighting on motorways, the M53 is set to have its lighting replaced along the Ellesmere Port section, this stretch has been pinpointed by many a Sabrasti member as having sub-standard lighting. It seems their cries have been answered.

[traffic-light-man]

Unfortunatley.

Is it really actually needed though?

I know it's the same old argument, however I feel an awful lot of motorway lighting isn't needed, for example most of the lanterns on the M62 D4M J8 through to about J10 at Croft isn't working at the moment, and AFAIK, conditions are fine without it.

I do agree in some places, lighting is a nice addition to the roadway visibility wise. Or maybe SOX would be a nice light source to install

[sotonsteve]

How do accident statistics on the M53 compare with other motorways? i.e. does substandard lighting actually cause an issue? Recently it has been reported that lighting does not reduce night time accidents by 30%, a figure used for a long time, and that the figure is closer to 10%. Furthermore, lighting removals and part night lighting don't appear to have caused problems down my way, even on sections of road that you'd expect lighting the most.

As for SOX, it's effectively outlawed due to its lack of colour rendering. Somehow colour rendering is important on motorways...

[autosignguy]

I spotted some ancient Phosco lanterns in Huyton a few weeks ago on these awful-coloured hockeysticks...

[traffic-light-man]

TBH, Steve, I don't think accidents are all that common on the 53. If lighting really is nessacery, I do hope it's part-night lighting.

autosignguy,

Any more specifics? I.e. where, and what?

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I still need to go and photograph the new white lighting down the road from me It's unlike anything I've seen before lantern wise.

[sotonsteve]

Something I've noticed up in the north west is that a number of rural A-roads are lit up as if they are in town, with lighting littering open countryside. You don't see overlighting like this down south really.

[DorsetWay]

About three or four major routes in northern and western parts of Poole go through predominantly rural areas and all have lighting on it that I guess these roads are under urban control of Poole Council even though the locations are pretty rural in character!

The A349 Gravel Hill is a pretty good example, full of post-top Alpha 2000s.