Posted on 04/27/2018 11:08:49 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Caltrans will widen striping and increase visibility on 1,027 lane miles of U.S. Highway 101 from the San Benito/Santa Clara County line to the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line, thanks to funding by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
“The wider and brighter striping will make it easier for all drivers and truckers to see the lane lines,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “The highly reflective striping will improve safety for road users, especially during rainy days. The six-inch striping will also take up more surface so it will be more durable and last longer, saving taxpayers millions of dollars of future maintenance repairs.”
The highly reflective six-inch striping is replacing the longtime standard four-inch wide stripes. The new lane lines are more visible due to a new material being used to enhance reflectivity.
Crews are scheduled to begin striping US-101 from the Ventura/Santa Barbara County line to north of the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo County line starting Sunday, April 29. Motorists will encounter overnight ramp closures, Sunday night through Friday morning, from 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. The $4.9 million project is the third SB 1 funded striping project to begin this year.
Earlier this month, crews began work on the $5.2 million striping project on US-101 from the State Route 166/US-101 Separation in San Luis Obispo County to the SR-198/US-101 Separation in Monterey County. Motorists will encounter alternating lane closures on northbound US-101, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., and on southbound US-101 from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Overnight lane closures are possible Sunday night through Friday morning, from 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m.
On April 15, crews also began the $4.4 million striping project on US-101 from the SR-198/US-101 Separation in Monterey County to the San Benito/Santa Clara County line. The majority of construction is taking place during the overnight hours. Motorists can expect overnight lane closures from 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m.
In addition to restriping work, last month Caltrans began construction on the $1.4 million bridge project to improve and extend the service life of two bridges on US-101 at the Refugio Road Undercrossing in Santa Barbara County. The project was the first of eleven projects in District 5 that are scheduled to begin construction this year due to the funds from SB 1.
The construction schedule is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and/or materials, and/or construction-related issues. More information and updates on projects can be found at http://www.dot.ca.gov/d5/ or on Twitter via @CaltransD5.
SB 1 provides an ongoing funding increase of approximately $1.8 billion annually for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the state highway system. SB 1 funds will enable Caltrans to fix more than 17,000 lane miles of pavement, 500 bridges and 55,000 culverts by 2027.
Caltrans is committed to conducting its business in a fully transparent manner and detailing its progress to the public. For complete details on SB 1, visit http://www.rebuildingca.ca.gov/.
Motorists are encouraged to plan ahead, use alternative routes and Be Work Zone Alert.
I remember being on 101 in a heavy rain near San Jose years ago. Scary!
This will only take about 87 Years.
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Striping that is still very visible on dark rained-on roads would certainly be a life saving safety feature.
I doubt it. In fact, I would venture to predict that traffic accidents in the rain will increase. Cars will more easily drift onto the wider striping, which is much slicker than the pavement when wet.
What about from Ventura to Los Angeles?
It would also be nice if they swept the center divider area clean.
“Striping that is still very visible on dark rained-on roads would certainly be a life saving safety feature”.
Personally, I think fish eyes are better, provides more visibility, physical feedback when encroached upon, more durable and long lasting. Downside though, may be more expensive....
The move from 4 inch to 6 inch wide stripes has absolutely nothing to do with drivers seeing the stripes better or them lasting longer.
All this money is being spent so the few self-driving cars on the road don’t crash. Self-driving cars have massive difficulty seeing 4 inch wide stripes. They needs stripes a minimum of 6 inches wide to stay safely in their lane. So California state freeways and highways are being re-striped from Canada to Mexico at high cost so that a tiny handful of automated self-driving cars don’t crash.
While the 6 inch wide stripes will eventually be needed as more self-driving cars appear on roads, there was no need for a massive restriping of the entire state. This could have been done piecemeal as each section of road was being worked on.
And it is a lie that 6 inch wide stripes last longer than 4 inch wide stripes. Semi truck tires will wear them down equally fast.
Your prediction is completely wrong.
First of all, stripes between lanes have a 36 foot gap for every 12 foot long stripe. Traveling at speed, you can’t slip much at all, I mean almost none, before your car is back fully on pavement between the stripes.
Second, your 8 inch wide tire is still wider than a 6 inch wide stripe. You can only slip sideways another 2 inches before the full contact patch of your tire is back gripping nothing but the un-striped road surface.
Never mind that all cars sold today have some form of stability control and traction control.
Wider stripes will be much easier to see in the rain when they are fresh and not worn out. The slickness is a complete safety non issue.
Deck chairs...Titanic.
Will it be a bilingual stripe?
I remember stripes being much more reflective years ago. I used to cycle and I remember the lines actually being raised slightly, they were so thick and full of reflective flake. I could drive in horrible weather and still see the lines. Now, a light sprinkle, and it is one massive black mess. Also, they do not paint the curbs well, so if there is a curb narrowing your lane and the sideline is not visible as well as the curb not being visible, it is quite a hazard.
I think they should use those reflectors that are forced into the road bed at an angle that allows for easy view. They don’t plow like up north and would last quite awhile in their climate....just a thought .
There’s a reason crossovers with extra ground clearance are replacing sedans as the go-to family vehicle.
I like it when they put the little bumps on the stripes so that the car makes a gentle rumbling noise when you drive along them. Almost like a hum.
Striping that is still very visible on dark rained-on roads would certainly be a life saving safety feature.
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Yes, but then some people will just drive faster.
In the Missouri Ozarks, a lot of the state highways meander along ridge lines. With the heavy rain that occurs, there is quite a bit of crown built in. They cut chatter strips with very heavy grooves before painting the stripes on those highways as they re-pave them these days. Those chatter strips will wake up the phone users in many cases.
There are a lot of head on collusions on these roads. Many young women — recently, one I knew and one of her children died when another woman crossed the line while texting.
The wider stripe is a 50% increase of material being sold to Caltrans. It’s all about the money.
Hope the budgeted extra length for going up and down into the potholes.
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