Drone image shows solar lights for Surrey’s newest walking track

The four-lane track was completed last spring at Bear Creek Park

In time for the darker fall months, a solar system sheds light on the new walking track at Bear Creek Park.

The track has been illuminated in the after-dark hours over the past couple of weeks, following work completed by Victoria-based company Urban Solar.

The lights will allow walkers to use the track all winter during evening and early-morning hours – from dusk to 10:30 p.m. and also from 5 a.m. to dawn, a company media rep says.

The lighting systems use 100 per cent renewable solar energy, according to system installers, and is similar to one the company built for the Arbutus Greenway in Vancouver.

• RELATED STORY: New track in Surrey park keeps walkers away from athletes.

The new walking track at Bear Creek Park is designed to separate those who like to walk from athletes in training.

The four-lane track, located around the perimeter of the upper grass soccer field parallel with 88th Avenue, is 400 metres long and five metres wide.

Construction was completed in the spring, although the rectangular track has been open to the public since last fall. The total project budget is around $500,000.

The walking track is part of Phase 1 of the Bear Creek Park Athletics Centre project identified in the city’s 2020 five-year Capital Financial Plan. The “destination sports facility” would be home to a 2,200-seat covered grandstand and artificial turf field by 2023. The complex is designed to host national track and field meets, games of football, soccer and other sports.