Dutchman brings glow to night-driving

[Alex]

Dutchman brings glow to night-driving

'Glowing lanes' on highways could spell the end of costly street lighting, according to a Dutch designer. Daan Roosengaarde's 'Smart Highway' involves photoluminescent paint markings on roads that are charged in sunlight and glow at night to denote lanes. Jim Drury reports.

[corco]

Probably can't replace street lighting in pedestrian heavy areas, but that seems like an amazing idea in rural/fringe suburban areas

[Brandon]

Nice idea, but I'd like to see how it performs year-in and year-out being scraped by snowplows.

[Duke87]

I've wondered before how well it would work if you made signs and/or pavement markings photoluminescent instead of reflective.

Of course, I dunno how well something industrial grade might work, but no "glow in the dark" thing I've ever had has ever glowed for more than an hour or so after the lights are turned off. But then, headlights might help keep things charged if there's enough traffic.

[Scott5114]

I wonder how expensive/durable it would be to embed LEDs in the pavement... maybe in those embedded reflector housings...

[mgk920]

Those embedded in the road reflector thingies didn't live all that long when they were tried here in Wisconsin a decade or so ago.  'Runway' lights don't seem to work all that well when they are set into roads, either.

Interesting idea, but IMHO, the current retroreflectivity is best - that becomes brighter as the lights that shine on it get brighter.  Maybe combine that with the 'glow in the dark' thing that this guy came up with.

Mike

[Chris]

Thermoplast road markings are already very common in the Netherlands, and there are no issues with snow plows plowing them off, so I assume this glow-in-the-dark road markings would last equally long.

Traditional pavement reflectors often get driven off, but there are also recessed reflectors on the market, which are not driven off by snow plows or traffic.

[Brandon]

Thermoplast road markings are already very common in the Netherlands, and there are no issues with snow plows plowing them off, so I assume this glow-in-the-dark road markings would last equally long.

Traditional pavement reflectors often get driven off, but there are also recessed reflectors on the market, which are not driven off by snow plows or traffic.

The thermoplast ones last a few years around here, but they do eventually get scraped one too many times with the plow unless they're recessed into the pavement.  And even then, they do eventually get scraped up in pieces.  As for the recessed reflectors, IDOT loves them, but they seem to last for a few years before they too get damaged.  Sometimes a plow catches an edge of one a rips it out of the pavement, but most often, the reflector itself is damaged by traffic or plows.

How often does it typically snow in the Netherlands versus the Upper Midwest?

[Alps]

I wonder how expensive/durable it would be to embed LEDs in the pavement... maybe in those embedded reflector housings...

It's expensive. They tried it here for a short stretch on US 46 near NJ 23, and I haven't seen them light up in awhile.

[realjd]

I wonder how expensive/durable it would be to embed LEDs in the pavement... maybe in those embedded reflector housings...

I've seen that before. Most often I've seen them as yellow flashing lines across the roadway that are activated by pedestrians at crosswalks. At the bottom of this page there is another example of using them for yellow/white edge markings.

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/resources/fhwasa06016/chap_3.htm

They look like airport embedded runway lighting which should be much more durable than a typical reflector.

A GIS for "in pavement lights" pops up plenty of other visual examples.