I'm pleased to report that it's the best of both worlds here in Essex, because both Essex County Council and the Highways Agency are still regularly installing new SOX lanterns. Essex is dominated by SOX lighting, and I can only assume the Highways Agency and Essex County Council prefer in some locations not to 'spoil' the street scene by introducing other light sources.
This may also be the case for Borough, District and Parish-owned lanterns, but these are few and far between and (certainly in the case of Borough and District lighting), far harder to keep track of. In the past, such installations have simply mirrored Essex County Council's nearby installations, the vast majority of which are SOX of course! The most recent Parish SOX lantern that I noticed appeared on the B1027 between Clacton and Colchester last year - a new Thorn Beta Five.
Having said that, the grip is beginning to loosen. Essex County Council is ten years into a possible fifty year long programme to replace the county's SOX lanterns with SON lanterns, and based on empirical evidence the Council now appear to promote SON over SOX for new lighting (see
this newspaper cutting from the East Anglian Daily Times from September 2004). This has seen the installation of new SOX lighting on all new roads and developments phased out in the last few years in favour of SON, although occasionally a developer may dare to be different and go for a white light source.
As a result of the policy change, SON lighting is also being used for casual replacements in SOX-lit streets. I would say for eight metres and over, the balance has now shifted in favour of SON lanterns over SOX lanterns (meaning more new SON lanterns are appearing than new SOX lanterns, even in previously SOX-lit streets), and for six metres and under, it's now SON for all casual replacements. Perhaps Essex County Council believe that the difference in colour temperature between SOX and SON is not as stark as it is for SOX and white light sources, and they can proceed with installing SON on that basis. Furthermore, the opportunity to switch from SOX to SON is now taken on all relighting schemes on existing roads.
I am sure the switch from SOX to SON may quicken at some point in the future, but while new SOX is still being installed in Essex, I am happy to capture it on film!
First to the Highways Agency, and this damaged Philips SRS201 on the A120 trunk road at Bradwell is currently being replaced with a new Philips SRS201:
A new SRS201 lantern on the A120 at Bradwell. Photograph taken three days ago (May 2014).
The A120 between Braintree and Colchester is SOX-lit, so it's understandable why the Highways Agency would prefer to replace a damaged SOX lantern with another SOX lantern. The damaged SOX lantern appears partially obscured on the right hand side of the road in this photograph from October 2013.
Another view of the replacement lantern from May 2014.
This post in the East Anglian Discussion thread documents a more comprehensive SOX relighting scheme from the Highways Agency from 2012.
Below are some new Essex County Council SOX lanterns:
This new SRS201 was one of many to appear on Wickford's radial roads towards the end of last year. Photograph taken in October 2013.
Another example from Wickford in October 2013. Once again the reason why new SOX lanterns were probably chosen was because Wickford's radial roads are almost exclusively SOX-lit and it would be daft to spoil the street scene.
A final example of a new SOX lantern in Wickford from October 2013.
Fast forward to 2014 again, and a new £800 million waste treatment plant under construction in Basildon required some road widening and a new roundabout to be built on Courtauld Road.
When the roundabout and associated road widening scheme eventually took shape, new Philips SRS201 lanterns were installed, with SON lanterns only being used on the roundabout itself. It was like the good old days had never gone away! Photograph taken in January 2014.
When the road was narrower, it was lit by these Simplex Aries 55w SOX lanterns. Photograph taken in October 2011.
It was a genuine surprise to witness SOX lanterns being installed on a new road scheme in 2014. Perhaps it will be the county's, and possibly the country's last such scheme. Photograph taken in January 2014.