Road stripes not as reflective

[Creekside]

I work second shift so my commute home is usually done between 1-2am depending when I get off work. This morning while driving in the rain I noticed that you couldn't even see the stripes on the road anymore, it was just black from ditch to ditch. They didn't reflect off the headlights at all. I spent most of my early childhood travelling with my grandparents who were in the trucking business and remember when the striped were super bright. It leaves me wondering if something has been removed from the paint in the last decade or so? Maybe something California doesn't like so nobody else can have it either?

 

[PF52]

Quite possible. I remember seeing them applying a sprinkle (a generous amount!) of splarkly powder to the freshly-painted markings.... Do they still do it that way or is it now mixed in with the paint?

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

For me, the markings have never seemed to be as reflective during rain.

I think glass beads are used to make the paint reflective. I saw a bunch of powder scattered over the lines when a nearby street was redone recently. But considering the quality of other street work around here, that may not be the industry's ideal method.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I work second shift so my commute home is usually done between 1-2am depending when I get off work. This morning while driving in the rain I noticed that you couldn't even see the stripes on the road anymore, it was just black from ditch to ditch. They didn't reflect off the headlights at all. I spent most of my early childhood travelling with my grandparents who were in the trucking business and remember when the striped were super bright. It leaves me wondering if something has been removed from the paint in the last decade or so? Maybe something California doesn't like so nobody else can have it either?

Perhaps when you were a kid the roads in question were at the time relatively new? My WAG is that the additional traffic has increased the wear rate. Which reminds me. I need to file a work order with my local DOT. brb

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

The reflective substance is glass beads made by grinding up glass and passing it through a flame until the glass particles melt and form spheres.

 

[MNgopher]

In most cases, reflective beads made of glass are placed at the same time the paint or other materials are placed.

The beads used are only 40% as reflective when the road is wet as they are when the road is dry, and our standards are based on dry roads.

New paint on new pavement is the most reflective. Age of pavement and age of paint all play a role...

 

[JohnnyG]

I think it's because so many people are texting while driving, more traffic is running over the lines wearing off the reflective glass beads.
Plus, they cost more, or are made in China (supply shortage).

 

[Silver]

I wouldn't try to dig into the specifics of human de-evolution. It's just what happens.

I just wonder, how did Brawndo and Tarrlytons manage to keep being made at all?

 

[Kira]

^^Is that sarcasm anyone can understand?^^
Brawndo is a "new" sports drink and Tarrlytons is a fictitious name used to connote any cigarette; appearing in a pointed anti-smoking billboard (as far as I can tell from Googling).

 

[PF52]

I think it's because so many people are texting while driving, more traffic is running over the lines wearing off the reflective glass beads.

You forgot to blame the left-lane hogs, and people who can't drive a manual transmission.

 

[gman2304]

Lack of maintenance/upkeep, plain and simple.

 

[oldcodger]

It is possible you are seeing the difference between traffic paint and thermoplastic. The thermoplastic is much more expensive but lasts longer. Maybe they placed thermo on the road and later restriped it with traffic paint. Both types use glass beads for the reflective material.

 

[PimTac]

I have noticed this of late as well. Fog lines used to be bright. Now they are white but a lot less reflective if that at all.

 

[UG_Passat]

I work second shift so my commute home is usually done between 1-2am depending when I get off work. This morning while driving in the rain I noticed that you couldn't even see the stripes on the road anymore, it was just black from ditch to ditch. They didn't reflect off the headlights at all. I spent most of my early childhood travelling with my grandparents who were in the trucking business and remember when the striped were super bright. It leaves me wondering if something has been removed from the paint in the last decade or so? Maybe something California doesn't like so nobody else can have it either?

Tires run over the stripes, so over time, the paint and the reflective particles in it wear away.

That's why many roads they embed housings that have reflectors in it, so that the headlight lights it up as well.

 

[ammolab]

It’s CATARACTS guys. I’ve got em, you’ve got em. Reflecting light gets scattered by your bad lens.

 

[vavavroom]

I don't care for freshly paved roads that are nearly black. At night you can't really light them with your headlights. Years ago they said they'd put away with reflective pavement markers due to cost but that didn't come true. I also see more rumble strips now. Or maybe those are just potholes.

 

[Oillover]

It’s CATARACTS guys. I’ve got em, you’ve got em. Reflecting light gets scattered by your bad lens.

OP's vision is getting worse, so it's obviously someone else's fault!

 

[brianl703]

Tires run over the stripes, so over time, the paint and the reflective particles in it wear away.

That's why many roads they embed housings that have reflectors in it, so that the headlight lights it up as well.

What I've noticed in Virginia is that they embed the reflectors in the road when the pavement is new, and then don't do anything to maintain them so that 10 years later none of the reflectors are still there or reflecting.

They also used to, on 2-lane roads, put double reflectors next to each other in a no-passing zone, and single reflectors in a passing zone. More recently they've decided to install only single reflectors whether it's a passing zone or not.

Gotta love the inconsistency, of which that is but one example.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

OP - Good observation.
Usually, I just shrug it off and don't think about it anymore.

Where I live, the N.Y.S. thruway was redone with approx. 12-inch-thick concrete.
It was so light colored, you could NOT see the 'white' stripes / bright sunlight made it worse.
The solution was to paint 'black' stripes in-between the 'white' ones / differently helped

 

[MNgopher]

The OP's question was on road stripes specifically - not reflectors.

And being more specific, in areas where the road is plowed on a regular basis, reflectors built into the road have a difficult life. The ones that are more snowplow durable tend to cost more to install, require more preparation of the pavement, and when they come loose from the pavement turn into 2 to 5 lb loose objects in the roadway made of cast iron or hard plastic - and can cause serious damage to a vehicle when they get kicked up... The other ones don't fare very well when the plows come out.

Fun facts - there is no federal requirement to use reflectors. Part of why their use varies so greatly geographically.

I can state we use a variety of products - latex paint, epoxy, preformed thermoplastics, and polymer tape. More or less more expensive as you go down the list. The last two are used mostly in spot high traffic areas (think intersections) and the thermoplastics for things like markers for turning movements, etc...

The more expensive Epoxy tends to get used when roads are new, and the higher priority the road, the more likely to be used. As the road weathers and deteriorates, it shifts to using a latex paint since it isn't being applied to the most solid of surfaces.

Similarly, the higher the priority of the road, the more likely the markings will be kept in higher functioning condition - ie: your local City street or minor county road is likely to get the cheap latex paint markings, and have them done on a longer period. The county I used to work at had a goal to paint the striping yearly, and all other symbols and markers every three years. Reality was nothing went more than 2 years... But a lot of it went 2 years.