Pavement marking demonstration projects : state of Alaska and state of Tennessee.

2013PDFTech ReportFHWA-HRT-12-048DTFH61-05-D-00025;Task T-06-002Road markingsRoad marking materialsHighway safetyEnvironmental impactsCost effectivenessDemonstration projectsRetroreflectivityEdge linesProcurementCompetitive biddingAlaska;TennesseeUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety Research and DevelopmentCarlson, PaulPark, Eun-SugPike, AdamPorter, R.J.Miles, JeffreyBoulanger, BryanSmadi, OmarHawkins, NealChalmers, SethDarmiento, FrankBurde, AdrianKuhn, BeverlyEalding, WendyTexas A&M Transportation InstituteScience Applications International CorporationFederal Highway AdministrationThis project evaluates the safety impacts, environmental impacts, and cost effectiveness of different pavement markingsystems as well as the effect of State bidding and procurement processes on the quality of pavement marking materialemployed in highway projects. The findings indicate that States are pursuing alternative procurement strategies to providehigh-quality durable markings in a cost effective manner, often as part of a strategic safety plan, while industry hasresponded to requirements for more environmentally benign materials. A multi-State retrospective crash analysissuggests that the use of 6-inch edge lines reducesseveral crash types on rural two-lane two-way roads as compared to4-inch edge lines. The monitored performance of pavement markings installed as part of the demonstration projectwas used to evaluate pavement marking cost effectiveness. The same results were also used to populate a frameworkfor a pavement marking selection tool