Revolutionary illuminated bike path in Eger

700 million HUF was spent on the bike path network in Eger, and although the media was loud from the scandals that accompanied the project, it had successful parts as well. Not so long ago, Hungary’s first illuminated bike path was made, connecting Eger’s city centre with Felnémet. The bright idea came from a local entrepreneur, writes index.hu.

The idea of the Living Road Illuminating Pavement Sign^® is at least five years old, the inventor, Tibor Farkas, said. Farkas is not an engineer, he has never been trained in the field. But since he’s an entrepreneur, he said, it’s his job to develop products sometimes, like this phosphorescent pavement sign. The idea hit Farkas when he missed a turn and fell while cycling in the outskirts of the town.

It was evident that installing streetlights in such places would be incredibly expensive, so he started experiments with painted signs. “We started to test the technology at our base in Eger. We painted the signs, and left them there during the winter, when it was snowing and the temperature dropped below 0°C to see how they react to the weather changes” Tibor Farkas said, but he was reluctant to tell more about his invention. The only thing he disclosed was that there is a kind of illuminating pigment in the mixture, which is able to shine for up to 12 hours, and it doesn’t need massive light to recharge. This special mixture became painted over the traditional sign.