Public Street Lights

Public street lights are engineered for highway, footpath, and public area illumination, designed to BS 5489-1 standards and built for long-life, low-maintenance operation at scale. Lyco supplies local authorities, highways contractors, and infrastructure maintenance teams. Browse alongside street light accessories for columns, brackets and mounting hardware, or the full street lighting range.

Large-scale specification built for long-term performance

Public street lighting operates under a different set of constraints from any other outdoor lighting category. Fittings must maintain specified illuminance levels over a service life of 20+ years, in all weather conditions, with minimal maintenance intervention. They must meet photometric standards for the road category they serve, comply with obtrusive light limitation guidance to minimise upward light pollution, and increasingly support connected controls for remote monitoring, dimming, and fault reporting.

LED street lighting has transformed the economics of public highway lighting over the past decade. A modern LED lantern on a 6-metre column delivering 5,000–8,000 lumens at 40–60W replaces a 150W SON (high-pressure sodium) equivalent with lower energy consumption, better colour rendering (LED at 70+ CRI versus SON at around 25 CRI), longer rated life, and no warm-up time. The maintained average illuminance requirements of BS EN 13201 road classes M1 through M6 and P1 through P6 (for pedestrian areas) are achievable with appropriately specified LED lanterns.

For solar options in locations without grid infrastructure, see solar street lights. For lamp replacements in existing columns, see street lamp bulbs. Lyco offers free delivery on all orders over £70.

Frequently Asked Questions

What road lighting standard applies to public street lights in the UK?

BS 5489-1:2020 (Lighting of roads and public amenity areas) and the supporting BS EN 13201 series define the road lighting classes, maintained average illuminance requirements, uniformity ratios, and threshold increment (glare) limits for UK public street lighting. Design compliance with these standards is a requirement for public highway installations.

What lumen output do public street lights need?

Lumen output requirements depend on the road class. A residential access road (M6 class) requires a maintained average illuminance of around 7.5 lux; a main distributor road (M2 class) may require 30 lux or above. Achieving these levels depends on mounting height, column spacing, lantern photometry, and maintenance factor. A lighting design calculation using the specific product's IES file is required.

Can public street lights be connected to smart controls?

Yes, modern LED street light lanterns increasingly incorporate or are compatible with ANSI C136.41 or NEMA socket-mounted control nodes, enabling individual dimming, fault reporting, and remote monitoring via central management systems. DALI-2 and 0-10V dimming interfaces are also widely available. Smart controls reduce energy consumption through time-based or traffic-responsive dimming profiles.

How are public street light columns specified?

Street lighting columns are specified by height (typically 5m, 6m, 8m, or 10m), mounting configuration (column top or outreach bracket), wind loading zone, and material (steel, aluminium, or GRP). The column and lantern must be matched for appropriate wind loading and maintenance access. See street light accessories for column brackets and mounting options.

Do you sell public street lights near me?

Lyco delivers public street lights to all UK mainland addresses with next-working-day delivery as standard. Orders over £70 qualify for free delivery, and same-day dispatch applies to the vast majority of in-stock products across the range.