On Saturday 29th August, 2020, Senator the Honourable Rohan Sinanan, Minister of Works and Transport, officially commissioned the lights at the Valsayn/Cipriani College walkover.
The lights were officially commissioned as the Nation observes its 58th Independence tomorrow, Monday 31st August.
The Ministry outfitted the walkover with lights along the walkpath which is the first time this initiative was implemented.
Speaking to members of the media in attendance, Minister Sinanan indicated going forward all the new walkovers will be constructed in similar fashion to Valsayn/Cipriani College and will be well lit to provide an added measure of safety to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists who intend to utilise them.
The walkover was officially commissioned in June as a much-needed safe channel for people crossing the highway to access Bamboo No.2 and No.3, Prince Charles Street (Valsayn North), Morequito Avenue (Valsayn South) and Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies and environs.
Facts about the newly installed lights on the Valsayn Pedestrian Walkover
The Valsayn Pedestrian Walkover was designed to demonstrate how public works structures do not all have to be large heavy set structures without the appearance of efficiency and elegance in construction. The intention was to design a lighting system to highlight and reflect the unique nature of the structure, without being a nuisance to the highway users below as well as adjacent school, businesses and residences.
In consideration of the arrangement of elements on the steel truss walkover and to highlight its unique architecture, High Impact LED RGB (Red Green Blue) Wall Washer fixtures were selected with maintenance in mind. In a multicultural nation such as ours, with many festivals and events to commemorate, these fixtures provide for the full range of colours to be produced to suit the occasion.
The lights are arranged to provide not only illumination for the pedestrian when crossing the walkover, but its patterned and multi-colour arrangement provides visual stimulation for both the pedestrian and driver on the highway. Lighting along the walkway was designed to be subtle but adequate for all illumination and again visual stimulation.
In order to highlight one of the main architectural features of the walkover – a high impact, dynamic linear RGB LED light fixture was used. These fixtures highlight the “arms” and “head” of the working man –the sloping columns and rounded fixture at the base of each pair of columns – which support the overall beauty and structure of the “country” – ramp and walkover – which everyone sees and experiences.