What are those metal things sticking up?

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/53219219927/in/photostream/

I've noticed that when some road agencies repave roads, instead of painting dots before the permanent lane stripes, they have these metal pieces instead.

Are they safe to drive over? Will they ruin your tires? Plus why use them instead of normal pain dots?

[Rothman]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/53219219927/in/photostream/

I've noticed that when some road agencies repave roads, instead of painting dots before the permanent lane stripes, they have these metal pieces instead.

Are they safe to drive over? Will they ruin your tires? Plus why use them instead of normal pain dots?

Heh.  Of course they're safe to drive over.  They're just reflectors.

[mgk920]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/53219219927/in/photostream/

I've noticed that when some road agencies repave roads, instead of painting dots before the permanent lane stripes, they have these metal pieces instead.

Are they safe to drive over? Will they ruin your tires? Plus why use them instead of normal pain dots?

Heh.  Of course they're safe to drive over.  They're just reflectors.

yea, they're little reflective plastic tabs that serve until real paint can be laid down.  I see them all the time here.

Mike

[CtrlAltDel]

I thought they were made of rubber, not metal.

[Scott5114]

They are indeed made of plastic. Over time they break off of the road surface and go who knows where, so they are definitely more temporary than temporary paint dots.

They also make a nice little flapping noise when you drive over them. Just think of them as temporary Botts dots.

[bing101]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/53219219927/in/photostream/

I've noticed that when some road agencies repave roads, instead of painting dots before the permanent lane stripes, they have these metal pieces instead.

Are they safe to drive over? Will they ruin your tires? Plus why use them instead of normal pain dots?

Temporary lane reflectors until the permanent ones are installed.

[mgk920]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/53219219927/in/photostream/

I've noticed that when some road agencies repave roads, instead of painting dots before the permanent lane stripes, they have these metal pieces instead.

Are they safe to drive over? Will they ruin your tires? Plus why use them instead of normal pain dots?

Temporary lane reflectors until the permanent ones are installed.

Around here they are usually put down a few days before a chip sealing operation.  IMHO, they signify road maintenance on the ultimate cheap by whatever agency controls the road and they do sometimes fail into a real mess.

Mike

[jeffandnicole]

Gloucester County, NJ uses them a lot.  Just plastic.  They usually just mark the center line; maybe skip or shoulder lines in some cases.  Perfectly safe to drive over.

[roadman65]

I've never seen them used in Florida and I did see them sporadically in the Garden State hence my OP as Kansas and Oklahoma is where I noticed them frequently after paving projects.

Just like I noticed in Kansas when a road is single lane with flagman an at each end, I've seen a pilot car lead traffic through the single lane which I never saw elsewhere.

[hbelkins]

Whenever I see them, I try to drive over them, and I have never felt or heard them.

[pderocco]

I've seen them hundreds of times, but I've never seen them laid down. Does someone do it on foot, or do they do it from a truck? They seem to be placed reasonably accurately, so I wonder if they have a machine that lays them down.

[bwana39]

I have seen them that were just white cardboard ranging from barely thicker than poster board to a 1/4" corrugated. (Think the paper corrugated corners packed in some appliance and television boxes)

They are just Temporary lane markers. In a lot of cases they are just left to wear off.

Your question would seem to hint that you are not familiar with permanent so-called cat eyes on the road.  In areas where snow plows don't run, they are everywhere. It is a bunch better than just painted stripes. Especially on light colored pavement.

[freebrickproductions]

Your question would seem to hint that you are not familiar with permanent so-called cat eyes on the road.  In areas where snow plows don't run, they are everywhere. It is a bunch better than just painted stripes. Especially on light colored pavement.

In my experience, states that at least semi-regularly get snow (including Tennessee) will use cats-eyes that are embedded into the pavement, such as these, so they ain't scraped-off by plows.

[thenetwork]

Those reflectors are also good when agencies just do a chip/fog seal over a newer (0-5 year old) asphalt surface to extend the life of the road surface.

Usually those plastic reflectors get coated in black by the tar after the sealing(s), but they still can be seen as the road markings until the road is re-striped.