No More Ghost Stories? Karak Highway Is Finally Getting 297 Solar Street Lights

Photo for illustration purposes only.

If you’ve ever driven down the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway (KLK) at 2:00 AM, you know the feeling. One minute you’re enjoying a late-night drive home from Genting Sempah, and the next, you're gripping the steering wheel tight because certain stretches feel pitch-black, eerie, and straight out of a classic Malaysian urban legend.

Well, night-owl road trippers and frequent East Coast travellers can breathe a little easier soon. The government has officially confirmed a major lighting upgrade for the infamous highway, and it's powered entirely by the sun!

297 Solar Lights Coming to Dark Stretches by End of 2026

Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi (Photo credit: Bernama)

During a Dewan Negara session, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi revealed that an official contractor has been appointed to install 297 units of solar-powered LED streetlights along high-risk, pitch-black stretches of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway (KLK).

If you’ve ever had to navigate those unlit winding mountain turns in heavy rain or fog, this upgrade brings a long-overdue sigh of relief for nighttime drivers.

Exact Locations Getting Solar Streetlights

The installation covers key east and westbound lanes across critical blackspots between Bentong Timur, Karak, and Kampung Sungai Dua:

Why Solar Lights? (And Why Cable Thieves Are Out of Luck)

The Karak installation is part of a larger RM34.19 million national allocation for 2026 to install solar-powered LED lights at 362 targeted locations on federal roads nationwide, with a strong focus on rural roads in Sabah and Sarawak.

According to Minister Nanta Linggi, solar-powered lighting is ideal for three major reasons:

• Remote Areas: Perfect for stretches far away from the existing electrical power grid.
• Anti-Vandalism: Traditional streetlights rely on underground copper cables that are frequently stolen by copper thieves, leaving entire highway stretches dark for months. Solar lights operate with self-contained poles and batteries, rendering cable theft useless!
• Green Technology: Squeezes energy directly from daytime sunlight to power high-intensity LED beams at night.

More Upgrades: 26 km Highway Widening & 100% Accident Reductions

Lighting up Karak is just one piece of the puzzle. The ministry also highlighted that streetlights will be installed along an additional 26 km stretch extending from after the Genting Sempah Tunnel all the way to the Mempaga Intersection.

This forms part of the ongoing KLK Expressway widening project, which reached 6.4% progress as of July 25 and is slated for complete delivery by 2030 to ease holiday festive traffic jams.

Even better news for road safety? The ministry identified 13 high-risk accident hotspots across KLK and the East Coast Expressway Phase 1 (LPT1) this year for immediate safety overhauls.

So, whether you're heading home to Pahang for the weekend or making a late-night Genting run, your drive is about to get a whole lot brighter, and safer.