Walking along the Buck Creek dike after dark will be safer and more pleasant, lit by several solar-powered street lights.
The six lights that cost $36,000 plus $6,000 for installation, are part of the Circle Pathway Project which is funded by a grant, said Houston District's Chief Administrative Officer Linda Poznikoff.
The project includes the sidewalk and curb along 11th Street, from Copeland Avenue to Avalon Avenue, and pathway construction along Buck Creek, as well as six lit resting areas, five along Buck Creek one on 11th street.
There are six posts, two were put in Sept. 25 and four more this week, said Kevin Pegg, owner of Energy Alternatives, the installation company for the project.
The posts have South-facing, solar-electric panels on the top which charge a bank of batteries that will power the high-tech LED lights after dark - "the most energy efficient way to light up the pathway," said Pegg.
The posts are overbuilt for about ten months of the year, but during December and January, when there's not a lot of sunshine, it will be the real test for the lights.
The street lights are part of a District study into amount of energy that can be stored, and the study results will determine if and how other geothermal systems will be installed in the District.