Lighting

Good lighting along our trunk roads is essential to ensure that traffic moves safely, reducing accidents, while helping traffic to flow.

The provision of lighting on our trunk roads includes the design, installation, operation and maintenance of various lighting functions including street lighting, illuminated signs and illuminated bollards.

The specific benefits of lighting on trunk roads include:

• reducing personal injury accidents
• facilitating a smooth flow of traffic on high speed routes
• reducing crime and fear of crime in rural towns and villages
• creating safe access for use of sustainable modes of transport, including public transport, cycling and walking
• providing safe access to leisure and educational facilities
• assisting emergency services in effective identification of location and detail of events and incidents
• enhancing CCTV coverage during night time to assist road network management.

Transport Scotland considers the use of lighting on trunk roads on a case-by-case basis. The decision is often based on whether or not an identifiable link exists between accidents during the hours of darkness and the absence of street lighting. We also take into account the potential impacts on the environment including the need to minimise light pollution, improve environmental sustainability and our desire to reduce energy consumption.

The Scottish Government have published guidance on Controlling light polution and reducing lighting energy consumption (pdf, 851KB) 

Lighting accounts for around 86 percent of the energy consumption associated with roadside electrical apparatus. This equates to approximately 31GWh per annum. Transport Scotland is considering a range of options to manage the energy consumption from its roadside electrical assets - including lighting on trunk roads. New technologies are adopted to reduce consumption and trials are in place to facilitate innovation.

Transport Scotland is developing a road map to implement efficient, effective and intelligent operation of lighting assets on the trunk road network.