Street light repairs cost taxpayers €75,000

Taxpayers are set to fork out €75,000 to repair a fancy street lighting system in Cork which has been damaged by careless drivers.

And the continuing annual maintenance costs for the coloured-light bollards on Oliver Plunkett St will be around €20,000.

The figures are contained in a report presented to city councillors last night.

It was prepared following complaints from Cllr Laura McGonigle last October about the state of the system on one of Cork’s busiest shopping streets.

The €422,000 lighting scheme was installed as part of its €3.8m Beth Gali-designed revamp that began in 2004 and was completed in late 2006.

It was the first time such a lighting scheme was used in a public infrastructure project.

But by late last year just a handful of the 123 multicoloured illuminated bollards were in working order.

Some had been replaced with ugly brown plastic pipes.

Cllr McGonigle said given the level of investment in the scheme, the city should maintain it.

Engineers examined the problem and reported back to council last night with solutions.

They said two types of bollards were used in the scheme — illuminated and unlit, or dummy bollards.

The council arranged for 17 spare bollards to be provided as part of the original contract.

A total of 16 dummy bollards were installed at street corners where it was anticipated vehicles might hit and cause damage. But the report said the damage caused by careless driving “far exceeded expectations” and the spares were used up.

“Records indicate that between Jan 1, 2009, and Nov 2, 2011, the contractor was called to the street on 30 different occasions to replace damaged bollards.”

An analysis over five years showed that illuminated bollards, as well as dummy bollards in certain parts of the street, were continuously being hit or damaged.

Engineers have now recommended replacing the most accident-prone illuminated bollards with unlit dummy bollards.

“These replacements can now be acquired at a relatively inexpensive cost and these should be used in accident-prone locations.”

There are other locations where accidents are rare, and damaged illuminated bollards here should continue to be replaced with illuminated bollards, the report said.

The estimated cost of bringing the street’s entire lighting scheme to an acceptable state is €75,000, councillors were told.

“Thereafter it is envisaged that annual maintenance costs will be in the order of €20,000 but this should reduce significantly with time,” the report said.

Ms McGonigle welcomed the progress and said while the overall design of the lighting scheme adds to the streetscape, lessons need to be learned from the entire experience.