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[US71]

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=126751

Looks like AHTD is having problems with their road markers.
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A freak accident leads the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to make improvements on our roadways. Now the department will no longer use steel pavement markers on the interstate.
 
While driving along Interstate 540 Saturday, a five pound pavement marker crashed through Celestine Eichler's windshield. The reflective steel marker is a safety device attached to the roadway.

Randy Ort with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department says an accident like this is rare.

"We have no idea how that happened. This is a first instance that we're aware of for one of these items to become dislodged from concrete pavement," Ort says.

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[wriddle082]

OK, I can see the potential of this happening to one of these reflector units in concrete pavement.

The reflectors are installed in the center line.  The center line is also the expansion joint, and when the weather gets colder, the pavement shrinks, which could loosen the reflector unit's setting *IF* they failed to use enough adhesive or *IF* they weren't properly maintained.

Now since asphalt pavement is more flexible and doesn't shrink as dramatically in the colder months (unless it was improperly laid), the units tend to last nearly as long as the usable life of the pavement, but once that usable life has expired, they could loosen.  This started happening to the heavily-used section of I-40 on my end of Nashville early last year, which had been previously been resurfaced in 1996 or 1997 (the centerline was like a fault line in some places  ).  They finally resurfaced that section, as well as most of the rest of I-40 in Western Davidson County, throughout the following spring and summer.

Since TDOT began using these reflectors back in the 90's, they have gone back every 2-3 years and performed maintenance on them, whether it be a simple re-lensing or a replacement of an entire unit.  Even though these reflectors are the best on the market since they're much less susceptible to being ruined in the first year of usage like standard glue-on reflectors, they still wear out, and they still need maintenance.

I have a feeling AHTD is neglecting the maintenance, so they're choosing not to use them again and are using this freak accident as their excuse.  So they will probably go back to the regular raised reflectors, which will all be ruined with the first usage of snowplows  , but that may only happen once or twice a year in AR.

AR, OK, TN, NC, and possibly the northern part of SC are probably the farthest southern locations where I have seen the snowplowable reflectors in use.  I do recall seeing both types in use in all of those states but OK (not enough experience driving there).

[Scott5114]

OK used to use them but I don't see them very often on freeways anymore. They are still frequently used on city streets in Norman.

I know this is not the first time that this has happened. I remember hearing a story about it in the late 90s in some Midwestern state (I want to say Ohio or Indiana?) that also led to that state ceasing the installation of them.

[wriddle082]

OK used to use them but I don't see them very often on freeways anymore. They are still frequently used on city streets in Norman.

I know this is not the first time that this has happened. I remember hearing a story about it in the late 90s in some Midwestern state (I want to say Ohio or Indiana?) that also led to that state ceasing the installation of them.

About 10 years ago I spent 3 whole weeks in Dallas for pointless company training.  Took my rental car up US 75 north into OK, and I still remember the snowplowable reflectors in the road since I had grown accustomed to not seeing them in TX.  Also, I'm a bit of a "reflector geek" since I used to do a lot of driving at night (may start doing it again next year) and I really appreciate the safety value of having the road brightly delineated on rainy nights.

I remember a story about a loose reflector too, but I thought it was in MO.  IN and OH still use them regularly, from what I've seen in recent driving experience.  It could also have been WI (I've never been there).

[Scott5114]

Yeah, I think that it was in the mid 2000's that Oklahoma stopped using them. I-35 in McClain County was repaved around 2003 or so and as far as I can tell never had its reflectors reinstalled after that.

Or maybe it's just that the reflectivity on them sucks like with everything else in Oklahoma and I just don't notice them anymore? I suppose that could be it...