Think the subsiding of snow and the approach of spring completely rids of you of headaches of winter? Think again! According to news reports up north, the snow plows that helped displace the snow on your favorite roads and highways, will probably be the reason it takes you an extra 30 minutes to get to work.
The snow plows that would constantly clear the snow from the roads will leave roads with multiple cracks and potholes however these plows will also be responsible for turning the yellow road markings to white, making everyone's commute a little harder and more dangerous. Most commuters are likely to see a few accidents each week in regards to this problem and cities are scrambling to fix this issue.
Not only are they planning to fix the issue but they are looking to prevent this from happening in the future. Studies are being conducted now, and show that the salt used on the road can be a contributing factor to road markings losing their reflective qualities at night.
Thermoplastic paint has been around for many years, but due to the brutal winter this past 7 months, the paint is evolving and this will save cities and governments millions of dollars in paint and labor costs.
According to Professor Tarek Zayed of Concordia's Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering
"an upgrade to more expensive and durable epoxy paint might be more cost-effective in the long run. Other options include paint tape and thermoplastic, although these are quite expensive...wider use of a technical device called a retroreflectometer to help assess the paint's reflectivity and resulting effectiveness. In the U.S., this standard has been in place for almost a decade," he says, adding that minimum standards for reflectivity are used to signal when a road must be repainted."
