For several decades there have been lights along the road in the small agricultural village of Kjeldebotn in Narvik municipality. But something has happened. After Nordland County Council took over responsibility for road maintenance, light bulb after light bulb went out. The road gets darker and darker. No one comes to change them. Because the county council only took over responsibility for the road. The lights are owned by the municipality. A problem we find again in several places. – Our children are waiting for the school bus by the road. It is not a proper start to everyday school life, says Karl Robert Hauge. He is irritated. – There is no doubt that it is easier to cut in the districts and villages than it is in big cities. We are fewer people, and not so visible on a daily basis. It is easier to cut in the outskirts, because this is something they don’t see on a daily basis, he says. The spouse, Inger Larsen, agrees. – I think it’s very scary. Many times we accompany the children to the bus, with headlamps and reflective vests. CHANGE REQUIRED: Married couple Inger Larsen and Karl Robert Hauge believe it is not sustainable for the street lights to be dark. Photo: Privat Waiting in the dark At a number of bus stops along the road, children stand every day waiting for the bus to school. Only the first six who get on the bus wait at a lighted bus stop. The difference? It is a municipal road. Here the municipality is responsible, and they have installed new led lights. Jøran Kåringen Bakkemoen is an advisor for road management in Nordland County Municipality. He says the county council only provides lighting along the roads where it is necessary for traffic safety reasons. – Tourism, other industries or well-being lighting have thus not been taken into account, he says. OVER A LONG TIME: The street lights in Kjeldebotn have been dark for a long time. Photo: Private Research shows that road lights on average reduce the number of personal injury accidents in the dark by 21 per cent, and the number of accidents with fatalities and serious injuries by 49 per cent, according to the Transport Economics Institute (TØI). – What do you think about school students here having to stand in the dark waiting for the bus? – Technically speaking, there is no requirement for lighting of bus stops if they are not part of, for example, a pedestrian and cycle path. Around Nordland, there are hundreds of places where school children wait for the bus without lighting at the bus stop, he says. Bakkemoen in the county council is clear that it is only the traffic safety benefit of road lights that is assessed. At first the municipality had agreed to take over some of the lights along the school road. But since the school in the village has closed down, they believe that it is not necessary. – What is needed for light to come here? – The municipality almost has to answer that. So what is the municipality’s response? Took over 18 of 350 lights Trond Solberg, unit manager for roads and parks in Narvik municipality, says that they are clear that it is the road owner who is responsible for the street lights along their respective roads. The municipality has requested that Nordland County Council take over 350 lights along the county roads. The county council has only agreed to take over 18. And that is part of the problem. The municipality will not pay to light county roads, and the county will not take over responsibility for existing lighting systems on county roads. – What is sad here is that it is the residents around who are the ones who suffer because of the disagreement. There are many municipalities that have switched off the street lights on the county roads, as they believe it is the county council’s responsibility. – But if this was a municipal road, would there have been lights here then? – I cannot answer that. This is a discussion that is ongoing across large parts of the country. But what Narvik municipality is doing now, while we wait for a clarification, is to make a separate assessment of traffic safety on county roads where we stand as the owner of street lights. And consider whether we have to do something. We will also do that here. What the outcome will be, it is too early to say. Kirsti Kierulf, is managing director of the Norwegian Municipal Technical Association. She says that this is a common problem. The same challenge in several places – Actually, it is the road owner’s responsibility to ensure adequate traffic safety. It includes road lights. But a stretch of road is often owned by several people, usually both the county council and the municipality. Therefore, it has been the practice in several places for the parties to enter into separate agreements for who is responsible for different aspects of the operation of the roads, such as the lights, she says. Kierulf highlights the amalgamation of Vest- and Aust-Agder, where one of the county councils had clear agreements with the municipalities, while the other county council did not. In connection with the merger, there were discussions about who should provide lighting along the roads. – And in many cases neither party has the money for this. In addition, work is now underway to switch to LED bulbs in road lights in Norway. This is expensive work, which creates new discussions about who will foot the bill. But according to Kirsti Kierulf, this is work that will ultimately benefit both the municipality and the county council. – It’s a kind of kid’s egg. LED lights use much less energy, so electricity costs will decrease. New technology, such as sensor-controlled road lights, will also provide light along the roads when there is traffic there. And increased traffic safety benefits us all, she says. Kirsti Kierulf from the Norwegian Municipal Technical Association says that this type of discussion can take time to resolve. She recommends that the parties sit down together to agree on how they should distribute the responsibility. – It will pay off. Making sure to light up the roads with LED lights is perhaps one of the best climate measures they can do. It saves a lot of electricity, as well as being a great contribution to increased traffic safety.
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The school road is dark. Neither Nordland county council nor Narvik municipality will pay for new light bulbs – news Nordland
