Brighter, Tougher Lane Stripes Coming to a Highway Near You
Crews will begin restriping highways across the state September 17.
The worn-out stripes along some of the state’s busiest highways will soon be a thing of the past as crews get ready to restripe about 40 miles of roadway, in eight counties, along six routes.
On September 17, the Washington State Department of Transportation and contractor Specialized Pavement Marking start work on a $2.7 million safety project to restripe high-traffic locations on Interstate 5 in Marysville, Lynnwood, Lacey, Tumwater and the express lanes in Seattle, State Route 240 in Richland, US 2 in Cashmere, US 12 in Walla Walla and I-205 near Vancouver.
“We have all been in driving conditions when it’s difficult to see lane stripes,” said Chris Christopher, WSDOT director of maintenance and operations. “That’s why we are going to improve visibility for drivers by putting down a tougher lane stripe thanks to funding approved by the Legislature.”
Crews will spend 40 days laying down more durable, plastic-like lane lines across the state and, weather permitting, finish by the end of October. The striping material is called methyl methacrylate and will better withstand wear and tear from vehicles and harsh weather.
“We have a lot of stripe to put down in a very short amount of time,” said Bill Preston, WSDOT project engineer. “In order to accomplish all this work and limit delays and backups, we’re going to avoid peak-travel times and stripe at night.”
WSDOT wants to remind drivers to:
- Watch for striping crews and give them plenty of room,
- Visit the Statewide Durable Striping Web page for information to see when and where striping crews will be on the road,
- Tune into the Highway Advisory Radio at 1610 AM and 530 AM,
- Check the weekly Traffic Web page for up-to-date travel information,
- Follow on Twitter,
- Call 5-1-1,
- Download the WSDOT smartphone app.