Local services
The details were presented at a press conference by Mayor of Debrecen László Papp and Deputy Mayor of Debrecen and the municipal representative of the district Lajos Barcsa at the site of the 2nd phase of works on the 16th of August 2023.
The second phase of modernising the city’s street lighting system has begun, Mayor László Papp announced at the site of the Phase II works. He recalled that the switch to energy-saving street lighting was launched on the 9th of May. “Sodium street lighting fixtures with high electricity consumption will be replaced by smart, controllable, cheaper LED lamps,” the mayor said.
“Runaway energy prices have prompted us to start reconstructing the street lighting system in the 2023 budget,” the mayor stressed. The reconstruction will be carried out in three phases.
“We are now replacing a third of the old, outdated street lights. We are installing 783 new luminaires in 11 locations across the city. Work has started at three locations: on Bartók Béla Road, Vámospércsi Road and main road 35 from Debrecen-Józsa Vállállállozók Road towards Debrecen,” he stressed.
Debrecen has around 25,000 luminaires. László Papp said that this year nearly HUF 2 billion will be spent on modernising the street lighting system. Given the high energy prices, these investments will pay for themselves in a few years. The city’s old, traditional street lighting system consumes 8 million kWh annually, which will be significantly reduced. The gross cost of modernisation is HUF 223.4 million. The investment will result in a reduction of 68 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, the mayor said.
In the first phase of replacing 6,000 luminaires, 832 new LED luminaires were installed in various locations in the city. They were mainly installed along busy roads – Böszörményi Street, Klaipeda Street, Sumen Street, Mikepércsi Street up to the five-way roundabout – and mostly in residential areas – Menyhárt József square, Borbíró square, Doberdó street service road – and in the University square.
The works of the second phase will be carried out on Acsádi Road, Veres Péter Street, Kossuth Street, Faraktár Street, Vámospércsi Road, Bartók Béla Road, Mester Street, Hunyadi Street, Rákóczi Street, Burgundia Street, and the main road No. 35, main road No. 354 from Debrecen-Józsa to the end of Hajdúböszörmény.
“As a municipal representative of the city, any development that points toward sustainability is welcome,” Lajos Barcsa said. This short stretch of road is an excellent example of how much the local government is doing to promote sustainability, with the recent modernisation of street lighting and the planting of 19 saplings along the protected oak tree line on Bartók Béla Road. In addition, a cycle path network upgrade was recently completed, connecting the Bartók Béla road cycle path to the city centre cycle path network. In the field of transport, too, improvements have been made towards sustainability, he stressed. The new environmental policy of the city, the environmental policy that will be implemented in the coming years, can be seen within a few hundred metres, he pointed out.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
