ATSSA releases ‘Innovative Pavement Marking Strategies’ case study

ATSSA releases ‘Innovative Pavement Marking Strategies’ case study

Seven strategies explored, including Innovation Award winning ideas

Maintaining pavement marking retroreflectivity is critical to roadway safety in a wide range of conditions.

That’s why ATSSA’s latest case study, Visibility Matters: Innovative Pavement Marking Strategies for Safer Roads, examines seven innovative devices that help improve nighttime visibility and reduce crashes, especially in ways benefitting older drivers and supporting automated vehicle systems.

These changes align with requirements spelled out in the 2022 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Rule on Maintaining Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity and the 11^th edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which require public agencies to maintain markings at or above defined brightness thresholds.

“These seven devices emerged over the past five years as part of ATSSA’s New Products Rollout, with some of them earning the prestigious Innovation Award,” said ATSSA Innovation & Technical Services Director Eric Perry. “We felt that, given the significance of these ideas and their applicability to the federal regulations, this information was valuable for our members and partners in public agencies. These innovations address these safety issues and help reduce life cycle costs for public agencies responsible for pavement markings.”

The pavement marking innovations addressed in the case study include:

• Stencil-free pavement marking application
• Automated pavement marking layout and re-stripe system
• Innovative pavement marking materials
• Automated pavement marking removal technologies
• Pavement marking retroreflectometers
• Long line automated material application
• Tracking pavement marking specifications.

The products referenced include:

• Electra robotic stencil-free marking system
• LifeMark 400
• 3M Stamark™ removable tape
• StripeBot remote operation tape removal
• Stripemaster 3 handheld retroreflectometer
• Long Line Automated Material Application/Spec-Rite online interface
• DOW™ markings specification tracker.

The case study provides QR codes, which link to product videos to enhance understanding of each innovation and its advantages.