I have to say I hate the thought of lighting on paths. I once took a group of children, as part of a school trip, on Exmoor. All of them had torches etc, all flashing around, not a problem, but I then got them all to turn off their lights and look UP. They were amazed, as their eyes became accustomed to the dark it literally opened up a whole new vista to them. After that we had one torch leading and one following up the rear and silent, amazed kids enjoying a virtually light pollution free experience.
Apologies if that wa a bit off topic! More on topic, a year or two ago the road to the local rail station was closed for repair (3 months), the footpath from the village to the railway, adequate for 20+ years in it's unlit state suddenly had lights mounted on posts every 5 metres or so all the way up the hill (with a large black cable linking each light to the next), so the now walking drivers could find their way. It was a nightmare, ignoring the fact that you could see the lights "climbing" up the hill from about 2 miles away, about once a week some joker would pull up 4 or 5 and drop them across the path or worse put one light on the other side of the path so the cable crossed the path at about knee height. It was a nightmare trying to negotiate the path with a commuter bike in one hand and the post in the other as you worked your way up the hill trying to clear the path and all this at 5am, the alternative was a 3 mile detour up a 9% climb single track lane.