An East Riding project designed to cut carbon in street lighting on roads has scooped two national awards at a prestigious event.
Karl Rourke, who spearheads the scheme, was honoured with the President’s Special Recognition Award at the 2026 ADEPT (Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport) President’s Awards.
Karl, service manager for street lighting, traffic signals and CCTV at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, heads the Live Labs 2 Decarbonising Street Lighting project, which leads a national pilot project aimed at saving energy and cutting carbon emissions along UK roads.
The project was also presented with the award for Deploying Digital Innovation and Technologies 2026 at the event.
The Special Recognition Award celebrates people who have gone above and beyond to drive positive change, inspire others and champion equality, diversity and inclusion in their communities, and make a real difference in the industry.
The judges said Karl exemplified national leadership in street lighting, driving data‑led, low‑carbon, safety‑focused reforms that transform industry standards.
Karl said: “Winning this award is a great sense of personal achievement and validation for the project.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without the help from colleagues both internal and external and this award is for them as much as it is for me.”
Councillor Paul West, the council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: “I’m extremely proud of Karl and the LiveLabs2 project for winning these latest awards, because they are leading the way for the UK in showing how our roads can become greener and safer places.”
In the East Riding, the LiveLabs2 project is currently running trials along stretches of two of the area’s busiest main roads, the A164 and the A1079, where street lights have been switched off, and at the same time highly reflective white lines and solar powered road studs have been installed.
The council was awarded £3.3m by the Department for Transport for the study to find more environmentally friendly ways of lighting main roads in the future, as more efficient car headlights make some lampposts redundant.
LiveLabs 2 is a collaboration with 11 other councils and authorities across the UK, which are currently running their own pilot projects testing alternatives to traditional street lighting in order aims to make the highway network much greener.
The overall scheme aims to show how rethinking the way roads are lit, using new and innovative technologies, can allow councils to remove street lighting from some roads.
While not aimed at residential areas, the trial’s goal is to show that councils can cut carbon emissions and make savings to the taxpayer while maintaining road safety.
If successful, LiveLabs2 hopes its outcomes will be adopted by local authorities across the UK.
The project has been recognised with a variety of awards over the past 12 months, for its use of alternative technology, teamwork and its environmental impact.
The other awards include:
- Highways Awards – Environmental Sustainability Award 2025,
- Department for Transport Special Recognition Awards – Net Zero Project of the Year 2025,
- Highway Electrical Association – Project of the Year 2025,
- Decarbonising Transport Awards – Best Project 2026 & Best Use of Digital Technologies 2026.
ADEPT is a national body representing local and combined authorities England, alongside transport bodies and corporate partners.
To learn more about the project and its ongoing work, visit the Live Labs 2 project website
