As of September this year, all U.S. transportation agencies must maintain their pavement markings to a new federal standard. Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is well poised to help agencies meet these requirements with a comprehensive suite of consulting and testing capabilities designed to assess the performance of pavement markings.
Pavement markings provide drivers with critical information related to the roadway alignment, vehicle positioning, and other important driving-related tasks. The importance of pavement markings is even more paramount at night when they are often the only cue for pavement edge or lane location.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently amended the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) to include minimum maintained retroreflectivity of markings. In August, FHWA announced a Final Rule on the updated MUTCD standards, which went into effect on September 6. Transportation agencies have four years to establish a method for maintaining the minimum retroreflectivity level.
ARA experts can help agencies meet these federal requirements through the following services:
- Developing an inventory of existing pavement markings
- Determining the optimum maintenance method
- Performing retroreflectivity measurements with the use of our mobile retroreflectometer units (MRUs)
Our professionals are nationally recognized experts in lane demarcation and have over 15 years of experience in providing comprehensive pavement marking services. “We can help agencies with their entire pavement marking approach,” said Carmine Dwyer, an ARA principal civil engineer. “We understand the challenges of the different environments in which markings are placed. We have experience not only with the marking products themselves but also with the installation practices that will help agencies achieve the product life they desire.”
ARA recently completed another statewide MRU data collection for the West Virginia DOT and has been performing statewide collection for the Florida DOT for over 6 years. ARA has provided MRU and other pavement marking services for other agencies, including the Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, and Arizona DOTs; the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority; the South Mountain Freeway (Phoenix, AZ); the North Texas Toll Authority; the New York State Thruway; and the cities of Chicago and Washington D.C, and we will soon be serving the I-77 Mobility Partners (Charlotte, NC) and the Dulles Greenway.
For more information on ARA’s pavement marking services, visit https://www.ara.com/pavement-marking/.
