Raleigh Parks Launches Solar-Powered Lighting Pilot

The City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, in collaboration with the City's Office of Strategy and Innovation, is pleased to announce the launch of a solar-powered trail lighting pilot project on the Crabtree Creek Trail.

In May 2026, five solar-powered bollard lights were installed along the boardwalk section of the trail located between Capital Boulevard and N. Raleigh Boulevard. The greenway system currently operates from dawn until dusk.

While this schedule works well during the long days of summer, it means significantly reduced usable hours during winter months, a limitation that trail users have consistently highlighted. Community members have expressed a desire for lighting along the trails so that access during winter can mirror the operating hours during the summer months, allowing safe use of the trails for commuting or recreation before or after working hours.

Adding traditional electrical infrastructure to Raleigh's greenway network presents many challenges. Many trail segments traverse remote, natural areas where running electrical conduit would be extraordinarily costly and logistically complex. Solar power offers a possible solution, delivering reliable, renewable energy exactly where it's needed, without the expense or disruption of trenching and wiring. The five bollard lights installed on the Crabtree Creek Trail boardwalk are entirely solar powered, harvesting energy from the sun throughout the day and storing it for use after dark.

Limiting potential negative environmental impacts to greenway corridors is exceptionally important to Raleigh Parks. For this reason, the lights are not designed to illuminate the trail all night at full brightness. Each light is programmed to activate at dusk and operate at 100% luminosity for the first 2 hours of the evening-the peak period of trail use. After those two hours, the lights dim automatically to 20% luminosity for the remainder of the night, reducing light pollution. Motion-detection technology ensures that if a trail user is present later in the evening, the lights will brighten momentarily before returning to the reduced 20% setting.

Reducing environmental impacts is a core value of the City of Raleigh Parks Department. The decision to use solar power, combined with smart dimming and motion-activation, reflects a commitment to responsible stewardship of the natural corridors that make Raleigh's greenways so special.
The Parks Department will actively monitor the solar bollards' performance across seasons and weather conditions and will survey trail users on an ongoing basis to gauge the lights' effectiveness and gather community feedback. That combination of technical data and real-world user experience will inform decisions about the potential future expansion of trail lighting, where appropriate, on other sections of the Greenway System. For more information about the Raleigh Greenway System, upcoming projects, and community engagement opportunities, visit raleighnc.gov/parks or contact the City of Raleigh Parks Department.