South East LED roadside lighting upgrades

We’re cutting carbon emissions in the South East by switching to cleaner LED lights, making our motorways and A-roads greener and more energy efficient.

The south east of England will benefit from a £132m nationwide project switching 70% of lights on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) to cleaner LED alternatives by 2027. This involves replacing over 50,000 lights across the country.

By March 2027, we will have retrofitted most of the lighting in the region – taking the amount of environmentally friendly LED lights across the network to at least 70%.

Why we need this scheme

We use thousands of lighting columns to keep road journeys safe on our motorways and major A-roads. The majority of these lights still use old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs.

We're working to replacing them with LED lights because they use far less energy than conventional bulbs to produce the same amount of light.

Depending on the type of bulbs we are replacing, this could reduce the energy we use for lighting by 65%.

LED lights also have a longer lifespan, meaning less maintenance and fewer replacements on our network, minimising the disruption to our customers and local communities.

Where we're working

We’re currently surveying our road network to find opportunities to upgrade and install LED lighting.

We will always aim to keep disruption to a minimum when carrying out work on the roads we manage.

The upgrade work typically requires lane closures to keep our staff safe from moving traffic, particularly when we’re working in the central reservation or close to the carriageway.

You can view more about the schemes currently in progress below.

Latest updates

21 February 2024

Surveys underway on the A27

Surveys are underway on the A27 between Beddingham, near Lewes, and Arundel. This information will help us plan our upgrades.

We’ll be using a mixture of overnight temporary traffic lights and lane closures, as detailed in the 'overview' section below.
25 January 2024

Surveys start on A21 between Kipping’s Cross and John’s Cross

We’ll be starting surveys of the existing lighting on the A21 between Kipping’s Cross to John’s Cross on Monday 29 January. This information will help us plan our upgrades.

We’ll be using a mixture of overnight temporary traffic lights, lane and full closures, as detailed in the 'overview' section below.

See more updates

Project information

We’re currently surveying our road network to find opportunities to upgrade and install LED lighting.

More details of individual LED lighting schemes, including any closures, will be available here.

We’re carrying out surveys of the existing lighting on the roundabout and approaches at the Finn Farm Roundabout on the A2070 to help us plan our upgrades.

We’ll be carrying out the surveys using overnight lane closures and temporary traffic lights, as detailed below. All closures are between 8pm and 6am only.

Date	Closure details
Thursday 8 March	A2070 Finn Farm Roundabout – lane closures and temporary traffic lights on the roundabout and approaches.

We’re carrying out surveys of the existing lighting on the A21 between Kipping’s Cross and John’s Cross to help us plan our upgrades.

We’ll be using a mixture of overnight temporary traffic lights, lane and full closures, as detailed below. All work will be carried out between 8pm and 6am unless stated.

Date	Closure details
Monday 29 & Tuesday 30 January	Johns Cross Roundabout – lane closures and temporary traffic lights on the roundabout and approaches.
Wednesday 31 January & Thursday 1 February	Flimwell Crossroads – lane closures and 4-way temporary traffic lights on the approaches to the crossroads.
Monday 5 & Tuesday 6 February	Blue Boys Roundabout – lane closures and temporary traffic lights on the roundabout. There will be no vehicle access to the services overnight on Monday 5 February.
Wednesday 7 February	Kipping’s Cross to Blue Boys roundabouts – lane closures and temporary traffic lights between the roundabouts.
Thursday 8 & Friday 9 February	Forstal Farm Roundabout – lane closures on the roundabout and approaches.
Sunday 11 February	Scotney Castle to Forstal Farm roundabouts – the A21 will be fully closed between Scotney Castle and the Forstal Farm roundabouts from 8pm Sunday 11 February to 5am Monday 12 February. A diversion in place via the A268, A229 and A262. There will be temporary traffic lights in Goudhurst to help keep traffic moving.
Monday 12 February	Scotney Castle Roundabout – lane closures and temporary traffic lights on the roundabout and approaches.

We’re carrying out surveys of the existing lighting on the roundabouts on the A27 between Beddingham and Arundel to help us plan our upgrades.

We’ll be using a mixture of overnight temporary traffic lights, lane and full closures, as detailed below. All closures are between 8pm and 6am only.

Date	Closure details
Monday 19, Tuesday 20 & Wednesday 21 February	Beddingham Roundabout – lane closures and temporary traffic lights on the roundabout and approaches.
Thursday 22 & Friday 23 February	Ashcombe Roundabout – lane closures on the roundabout and approaches.
Monday 26, Tuesday 27, Wednesday 28, Thursday 29 February & Friday 1 March	Offington and Grove Lodge Roundabouts (Worthing) – lane closures and temporary traffic lights on the roundabouts and approaches.
Monday 18, Tuesday 19, Wednesday 20 & Friday 22 March	Causeway Roundabout (Arundel) – lane closures and temporary traffic lights on the roundabout and approaches. Access to the station and properties will be maintained.

We’re carrying out surveys of the existing lighting on the roundabout and approaches at junction 10 on the M20 to help us plan our upgrades.

We’ll be carrying out the surveys using overnight lane closures, as detailed below. All closures are between 8pm and 6am only.

Date	Closure details
Monday 4, Tuesday 5 & Wednesday 6 March.	M20 junction 10 – lane closures and temporary traffic lights on the junction 10 roundabout and approaches.