Upper Hutt City Council upgrading school signs at Silverstream

Improved safety is in store for school children as Upper Hutt City Council moves to automate more school safety signs.

Upper Hutt City Council is upgrading to a connected and automated system for its electronic school signs at Silverstream. The electronic signs are solar powered and use LED illumination to increase their visibility and currency with drivers around school areas during drop-off and pick-up times.

“The signs are very effective reminders to motorists as they enter school zones to keep speed down and be extra vigilant in their awareness of the presence of small children,” says Council’s Director of Asset Management and Operations, Lachlan Wallach. “What we are now improving, is the way the signs are activated, monitored, and maintained.”

The new system consists of a server-style computer back-end. Where operational information is uploaded and performance of the signs is monitored. This will bring the Silverstream zone onto the system that is already in place at school zones in Totara Park, Birchville, and Mangaroa.

The signs are automatically switched on and off by the system at appropriate times from a database of time and date information supplied from the school’s term information. This means the operation of the signs will no longer be reliant on a staff member at the school manually switching them on and off, and who, on any given day, or for whatever reason, may be unavailable to perform such a task.

The monitoring of the system means that Council can have accurate records of the performance of the signs and specific components within their individual systems. The monitoring system can inform council of any reduction in performance or malfunction, speeding up the time to repair and providing more statistically accurate prediction for regular upkeep or component replacement.

Although visible changes will be minimal, the back-end upgrade will ensure the signs operate and are maintained appropriately. It will also mean one less task for staff at the school. There are three signs to be upgraded at Silverstream. Two were completed during the school holidays and the third sign is expected to be in operation by early August.

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