For years, hazardous areas of Lake Lanier have been identified by markers warning boaters to steer clear. At night, however, those unlit posts can be difficult to see.
Through a partnership spearheaded by the Lake Lanier Association, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on the lake, lights are gradually being added to markers to improve visibility.
So far, 20 markers have received the solar-power-battery lights, one of them unveiled during a special outing Friday. The lights contain a photo cell that will flash on for one second and then off for three seconds during dark hours.
Val Perry, association president, said last summer’s significant incidents “caused a lot of people to focus on safety and what’s going on in this lake.”
Three children were killed in separate boating incidents, one of which occurred at night, on the lake in 2012.
“This started with a team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a team from the Coast Guard and it’s blossomed,” Perry said. “We think that this program … will help us make it more safe when people are driving their boats in the evenings.”
Seventeen of the 20 lights installed this week through the solar lighting program are on the Forsyth County side of the lake. Forsyth, which contributed $20,000, is the lone county so far to allocate money toward the project, according to Perry.
via Solar-powered lights added to aid nighttime traffic on Lake Lanier.
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