Street lighting on more than fifty main roads across the East Riding will be turned off and replaced with reflective studs and brighter lines following a highly successful safety and environmental trial.
Thousands of traditional street lights will be switched off across the East Riding over the next three years as part of a major initiative to cut carbon emissions and save millions of pounds in public money.
Reflective road studs, highly visible brighter white lines, and dedicated pedestrian lighting will replace overhead lampposts at fifty-four new locations on A-roads across the region.
Council officials confirmed the £2 million expansion this week, following a highly successful pilot scheme that not only reduced night-time collisions but also successfully slowed down traffic.
The Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority awarded the fresh funding after an initial three-year study proved that modern car headlights have made some traditional street lighting obsolete on major routes.
During the initial trial, highways engineers safely turned off street lighting along sections of two of the area's busiest routes, the A164 and the A1079, including through the village of Hayton.
Instead of relying on overhead lamps to guide drivers, maintenance teams installed improved signage, advanced reflecting road studs, and targeted lighting specifically designed to keep pedestrians safe.
After monitoring driver behaviour and road safety for a full year, researchers found that average traffic speeds dropped by ten per cent, while night-time collisions fell dramatically by a third.
The study also concluded that the darker roads had absolutely no negative impact on overall driver behaviour, confirming that the alternative safety measures were highly effective.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council led the ground-breaking £3.3 million Department for Transport project, coordinating the research with nine other local authorities across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Project leaders hope the comprehensive findings will eventually establish a completely new British Standard for street lighting for councils across the country.
The initial phase of the trial is already on track to reduce local carbon emissions by one hundred and sixty tonnes and save £1.2 million of public money over the next decade.
Following this success, the upcoming three-year expansion programme will see a further two thousand five hundred street lights permanently turned off on non-residential main roads.
Engineers estimate this massive next phase will cut an additional five hundred tonnes of carbon emissions and save £5 million of public money over the next ten years.
The green innovation initiative has received significant industry recognition over the past twelve months, securing an impressive ten national awards for its project management and carbon reduction efforts.
Among the accolades, the project won the Net Zero Project of the Year at the Department for Transport Special Recognition Awards, and the Environmental Sustainability Award at the Highways Awards.
It also secured the Project of the Year title from the Highway Electrical Association, an Innovation Award from the Local Government Chronicle, and an AI Innovation in Local Government award from the Municipal Journal.
Further recognition came from the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation, which presented the team with a Decarbonisation Award, while the Adept Presidents Awards honoured the scheme for Deploying Digital Innovation and Technologies.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council's cabinet member for transport and environment, Councillor Paul West, shared his enthusiasm for the project's widespread success.
Councillor West said:
"We are incredibly proud of this scheme and the small team running it, because it shows the East Riding is leading the way in what could soon become a nationwide change."
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