Pavement Marking Services
Including Mobile Retroreflectometer Data Collection
Challenge
Pavement markings communicate information to drivers like no other traffic control device, providing continuous 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. In addition to meeting driver needs, today good quality markings are also required for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), such as lane departure warning, to function correctly. To ensure sufficient discernibility for both human drivers and machine vision technology, the level of visibility provided by pavement markings needs to be monitored accurately and maintained appropriately.
Solution
ARA has a comprehensive suite of testing capabilities designed to assess the performance of pavement markings. Our professionals are nationally recognized experts in lane demarcation and have over 15 years of experience in providing pavement marking services.
Customers we have served include the Illinois, Florida, West Virginia, Missouri, Michigan, and Arizona state DOTs; the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority; the South Mountain Freeway (Phoenix, AZ); the North Texas Toll Authority; the New York Thruway; and the cities of Chicago and Washington D.C.
ARA has nearly 15 years of experience developing or maintaining pavement marking management systems with the use of a mobile retroreflectometer unit (MRU). Retroreflectivity is a measurement of the amount of light from a vehicle’s headlights that reflects off of a pavement marking and back to the driver’s eyes (i.e. how visible the marking is). Having an accurate and accessible pavement marking inventory can improve understanding of existing markings and promote a proactive maintenance plan. This foresight not only increases roadway safety but also allows for better fiscal preparedness.
Besides monitoring existing markings for maintenance management plans, ARA has performed mobile retroreflectometer services including MRU data collection and analysis for assisting transportation agencies with enforcing minimum initial retroreflectivity specifications.
All of our instruments are compliant with the 30-meter geometry requirements of ASTM E 1710.
