TUNNELS along EastLink are the first in Victoria to be lit by LED lights.
Over four nights, 1066 high pressure sodium (HPS) lights were replaced with 1174 LED lights.
Up to 60 technicians and 22 scissor lifts worked through the night to remove the old HPS lights and install the new LEDs.
The toll road operator says the replacement LEDs are brighter and whiter than the orange HPS lights.
“The upgraded lighting will improve safety for motorists, by making the driving task easier,” EastLink corporate affairs manager Doug Spencer-Roy said.
Operators in the EastLink control room were benefiting from an improvement in the quality of CCTV images.
EastLink incident response and emergency service personnel would also benefit, as brighter, whiter lighting would make the management of incident sites easier.
“If a motorist is injured in a vehicle collision, attending paramedics will find that the new brighter, whiter lighting will assist with their treatment of the injured person,” Mr Spencer-Roy said. “Should there be a vehicle fire, Fire Rescue Victoria will have a brighter environment in which to operate their equipment.”
“We estimate that the new LED lighting system will consume 26 per cent less power than the old HPS system, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 469 tonnes each year.”
The 39-kilometre EastLink tollway connects the Eastern, Monash, Frankston and Peninsula Link freeways.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 21 July 2021
