More than half of road deaths in Austin happen overnight. Quite often the crashes involve people veering outside their lanes, so the city tries to keep the lines looking bright. So, why is it so hard to see lines on Austin roads at night?
Road lines in Austin can be hard to see, even though major thoroughfares get restriped every two years.
"We have about 40 technicians and they are working hard every day," said Lauren Seyda, who oversees signs and markings for Austin's Transportation Department."They feel the burden that there is a lot of work to do." A striper truck sprays the lines and then tiny glass beads, almost like a powder, are blasted on top and stick to the paint.
"The issue that comes into it is really the cost," said Adam Pike, an engineer who researches pavement markings at Texas A&M University's Transportation Institute."Like a standard waterborne paint with glass beads, that's really your base pavement marking. That's the cheapest system out there. Like most things, you kind of get what you pay for."
Raised pavement markers, those little reflective squares on the ground, also increase visibility at night, but they can cost several dollars a piece to install.Wikimedia Commons
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