Astucia - SolarLite studs guide the way on the M25
The Problem
The M25 around London is one of the worlds longest orbital routes, covering 117 miles. It is also one of the busiest motorways in Europe being used by around 250,000 vehicles each day. Much of the motorway utilises street lighting in a bid to help aid driver visiblity, however a number of stretches do not currently have lighting which potentially increases the risk for diminshed night time visibility. Installing new lighting sites is an increasingly expensive exercise, particularly with the increasing costs of ongoing energy provision and the consideration of reducing carbon emissions. It has been reported that electricity costs to power street lighting on motorways and A roads in the UK was at around £15 million a year in 2009 (1).
The Solution
A recent project by Mouchel has been designed to help improve driver visibility on one 6 mile unlit stretch of the M25 motorway beween Junction 6 and the Clacket Lane Services. This has resulted in the installation of around four and a half thousand Astucia SolarLite road studs.
The Solar Powered road studs contain a Light Emitting Diode (LED) which automatically illuminates during the hours of darkness to provide up to 1,000 metres visibility - ten times greater than that of the traditional retro-reflective “cats eye” road stud. This installation is further to a section of Solarlite studs situated between the M2 and M20 near the port of Dover, which has successfully guided motorists from an area containing street lighting into an area which is not lit at all. The M25 project is providing improved driver guidance without incurring the ongoing costs and carbon emissions seen by the use of street lighting.
(1) The Times Online March 13 2009.
Benefits
- Proven reduction in night time accidents by over 70%.
- Whole life cost lower than traditional road studs.
- 10 times greater visibility for drivers than traditional reflective road studs.
- Visible in adverse weather e.g. fog, rain or surface spray.
- Highlights sharp bends, dips in the road and other hazards.
- Effective additional driver safety when used in conjunction with street light reduction schemes.
Testimonial
Graham Muspratt, Product Manager from Clearview Traffic commented, “Installing further street lighting columns on the motorway would have incurred significant cost in both installation and ongoing energy bills, whilst the use of Astucia SolarLite road studs presents just the fraction of this cost and does not require ongoing funding due to the use of free solar energy. We are very pleased with the effect of the Astucia studs and are confident that this enhanced delineation will have a positive effect on the safety and night time road environment on the M25”.
