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Colin Rosenstiel · February 4th 07, 05:12 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article .com,
(Mizter T) wrote:

On 4 Feb, 16:35, (Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:
In article ,

(Richard J.) wrote:
I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed
that all the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut
down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over

with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from

the slip roads.

Does anyone know if they are just replacing the lamps, or if the
lack of lighting is permanent? Either way it's daft.

If they are replacing the lamp columns, why not replace a few
at a time rather than leaving the whole road unlit? If it's
permanent, presumably that would be to reduce light pollution for
nearby residents. But a 6-lane 50-mph ex-motorway is not the best
place for that sort of exercise.

Something similar appears to have happened in Camden. Nearly all
the columns were cut down like than in Tavistock Place recently. Nw a

few new, smaller, columns have been erected so it's not in total
darkness. Looks like some Health and Safety panic to me.

Two sides to that argument of course - perhaps the design of said
columns has been found to be structurally flawed after corrosion
(i.e. rust) has affected them, and one has fallen down somewhere. Plus
a
crash on an elevated roadway such as the Westway could be pretty
ugly. Health and Safety panic vs sensible precautions...

Anyway I think prefer the Westway like it is - you can see the
lights of London town as you 'fly' through west London rather than
merely drive under the glare of harsh sodium lights - somehow it
appeals to my romanitic side! There's so much ambient light that it's
far from pitch black anyway.

A fairer point on a road like Westway than on a local street like
Tavistock Place with much less alternative lighting and cyclists trying
to negotiate hard-to-see obstacles. Isn't it just typical of modern risk
assessment that other risks like that are completely ignored?

--
Colin Rosenstiel