THE Florida Road UIP, local businesses and eThekweni Municipality will set Florida Road alight with festive cheer with the installation of phase one of a long-term festive lighting project which lit up the road on 1 December.
The 2018 installation will see 288 metres of ice-white icicle lights suspended from 32 of the diagonal-cable-spans that cross Florida Road between the Sandile Thusi intersection and the Woodley Crescent fork at the upper end of Florida Road.
“While not yet the huge ‘wow’ factor festive lighting projects usually bring to urban spaces, this simple installation is the start of a long-term Florida Road lighting initiative, that we hope to see grow into an iconic festive season installation for Durbanites and visitors alike,” said the head of the Florida Road placemaking committee, Laurence Dinsdale.
ALSO READ: Gardens light up for festive season
This lighting pilot has been on the cards since 2017, but putting together the funding took some doing. The project would not have been possible without contributions from the Florida Road UIP and its members, as well as additional contributions from businesses in the road, including Butcher Boys, Cubana, Butcher Block, Dropkick Murphy’s, Florida Park Hotel, Holden’s KwikSpar, House of Curries, KFC, Next Chapter, The Benjamin Hotel, The Pretorius Family of 167 Florida Road, Urban Lime and Vacca Matta.
The lights are connected to the street lighting grid and were installed by the eThekweni Municipality’s electrical department, who also tested the lighting products in their depot over a number of months and through various weather conditions.
“The Florida Road community is very grateful to the municipality for its support of this project and guidance on the best way to ensure a safe installation that can be maintained over the festive season,” said Jarrod Evans, Florida Road Urban Improvement Precinct (UIP) precinct manager.
The lighting products are supplied by MK Illumination and are tried and tested in harsh outdoor conditions and thus will be used year on year, allowing the project to grow from a strong base.
Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
