Complaints about Delays in Installation of Street Lighting

In my blog posting on the 21 of January, I welcomed the start of the work to upgrade the street lighting in Home Street in The Ferry.

Three or four weeks ago, the pavements were dug up to connect the electricity supply to each of the new lamp posts. Loose yellow and orange covers were laid over the holes not yet filled in and resurfaced.

A number of residents have contacted me to complain about the time it's taking to fill in the holes in the pavements and complete the installation. One resident in particular has complained of the late night disturbance caused by the clattering of the yellow and orange covers when pedestrians walk over these.

On behalf of the residents, I have written to the Street Lighting Partnership to urge the early completion of the job. I have also asked for an explanation as to why the installation has taken so long.

Replacement Street Lights for Home Street

This week work began in Home Street to replace the street lights. 

The Tayside Street Lighting Partnership are installing more energy efficient LCD lights which are also predicted to reduce maintenance costs because of the longevity of the 'bulbs'. This is part of a 'spend to save' programme.

If you have any concerns about the adequacy of Street Lighting in your Street please let me know. 

Faults in existing street lights should be reported directly to the Street Lighting Partnership 
Dundee City Council - Street Lighting Partnership

Obscured Street Light in Cedar Road Reported

Now the nights are drawing in, a constituent noticed that some of the street lights in Cedar Road had their light obscured by overgrown trees and shrubs. 

As a result of their reporting this to me, I had a site meeting yesterday with a manager from the Environment Department. It was agreed that the relevant private owners would be contacted by the Council to request that pruning was undertaken so that the street lights could more effectively illuminate the road and pavement.

Eastern, Grove and Forthill 20 mph Warning Lights Not Turning Off to be Sorted

The timers that control the 20 mph warning lights that flash to warn road users to slow down in the vicinity of Eastern and Forthill Primary Schools and Grove Academy have been not working properly. 

These warning signs are designed to establish 20 mph traffic calming at critical periods for child safety around the beginning and end of the school day without disrupting traffic at other times.

My picture shows the set of warning lights in Claypotts Road, close to Eastern Primary School and Grove Academy. They were still flashing at 09:15pm last night. There are also similar problems with the lights at Forthill Primary School.

Clearly this set of lights has not turned off after the pupils have left in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of such signage is diluted when they operate at the wrong times.

In response to my writing to the Transportation Department of the Council I have received the following response from the Street Lighting Partnership:

"The project to convert the signs so that they can be controlled from a central point and so we can harmonise with term times  has hit a few technical problems which has resulted in some signs operating 24hrs.  Work is continuing to get the remaining signs which are not working correctly, on line."  

I have been reassured that these unfortunate technical issues should have been resolved by the end of next week.