In connection with a review of old lighting installations, it was extinguished in Övre Bäck because the municipality considered it a safety hazard.

"Now when it's dark, the bus doesn't see me," Viktor Melander notes.

Tired of it being a lottery every morning to get to school, Viktor has begun lifting with her mother who works in the city when her working hours suit.

Skellefteå Bus is one of the bus companies operating the route.

- He should probably come along if he is waving properly. But it is clear that we see him better if there is a lamp in the place, says traffic planner Erik Sjöström.

Too sparsely populated

When the municipality again has to decide on new lighting rules, the E4 route through Övre Bäck is one of several areas that can completely get rid of the lighting.

Replacing the lights there is extra complicated because the Swedish Transport Administration owns the road and the municipality cannot perform work there anyway.

There really are too few in the village for the Swedish Transport Administration to set up their own lights. But traffic per day is almost dense enough for them to still be able to do so. That the road will be widened within a few years further complicates the issue.

- If the municipality removes its lights, it is likely that the Swedish Transport Administration can build its own lights there, says Anders Saadio, head of lighting operations in Skellefteå.

- But we will see if it is still not possible to get any lights at the bus stops, he continues.

Requirements from villagers

Övre Bäcksborna has met with the municipality and will have to think about new lighting rules by 29 February. The requirement from the villagers is, among other things, that at least road crossings should be lit.

Viktor Melander hopes for brighter times.

- Now that it's spring, the buses are seeing me again. But we must see how it will be next winter, he says.