I was heartened to see a question from a Post Dispatch reader this morning published in the Road Crew story. Can't find this on the website but the Road Crew is a Monday staple in which questions to MoDOT are asked and reported.
This one came from a West County Driver: "On Tuesday night, while driving down Manchester Road and Highway 141 in the rain, it was very difficult to see the lanes. Are any reflective properties put into the paint used for striping? We could see reflectors had been installed on 141 but they weren't very plentiful. Other states use highly reflective paint which makes it easier to see the lanes at night and especially in the rain."
Yay! We aren't the only ones. Here's the MoDOT answer:
"Yes, we include reflective material in the paint we use on state roadways. Our winter operations are not very friendly to the stripes on the roadway. We continue to evaluate different products-both paint and reflectors-to determine what products will work safely on Missouri roadways."
Ok, here's the thing about this answer. The lanes were not visible even before winter and haven't been for a long time so there must be a better reason. And, it's always the same old same old, "We continue to evaluate." Time for evaluating is long past. If nothing else take a look at the roadways in other cities, DC in particular. Both Virginia and Maryland highways have bright bright bright lane lines as do other states including Pennsylvania and Ohio and on and on.
I'm glad someone got an answer from MoDOT but it isn't very promising for anything being done soon. Here's the link which also has the same question from someone else in another part of the area. And same waffling answer.
