Faulty street lights are finally being fixed in Milton Keynes
Dark streets and gloomy underpasses are being addressed in Milton Keynes, with new investments from the City Council.
Milton Keynes City Council is carrying out a series of essential infrastructure works along sections of the V8 Marlborough Street corridor and nearby roundabouts as part of the investments.
Testing and technical surveys will be carried out on the V8, followed by the replacement of power cables and ducting those over 40 years old. A single cable fault can make multiple streetlights go out at once, including nearby underpasses that share the same supply.
Works have been scheduled in phases to minimise disruption for road users, with all work expected to be done by mid-March.
February’s schedule of street light work is: Peartree Bridge (V8 Marlborough Street), V8 Marlborough Street (H6 Childs Way to H7 Chaffron Way) and V8 Marlborough Street (H6 Childs Way to H5 Portway).
The council insists that they will try to complete the upgrades sooner where possible. Two more sites will receive cabling upgrades after this work, with details to be announced soon. Fishermead Roundabout (V8 Marlborough Street/H7 Chaffron Way) was completed in January.
The City Council said they had originally planned to carry out the upgrades last year, but it was postponed due to essential work needed at MK University Hospital. The work, which boosted the power capacity for the hospital’s growth, is now complete.
Councillor Jennifer Wilson-Marklew, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “Replacing these cables is an essential part of our ongoing investment in maintaining and improving the city’s streetlight infrastructure. Many of the existing power cables are more than 40 years old and have reached the end of their operational life.
“That’s why we’re increasingly seeing multiple lights go out at once — a single cable fault can affect whole sections of lighting, including nearby underpasses that share the same supply. Cabling faults are the most complex and time-consuming issues to fix, but our teams are working hard to investigate and restore lighting as quickly as possible.”
Our priority is safety, which is why we focus on the grid roads first. These routes carry high volumes of fast-moving traffic, so ensuring good visibility is critical.”