Roads across Vancouver Island will now be safer, as they get a fresh coat of higher-quality, more reflective line paint this summer, leading to better visibility.
Work has already begun in the Greater Victoria and Duncan areas; in total, more than 3,000 kilometres of roads and highways will be coated with a paint formula that contains glass beads. The larger and higher-quality beads will province 20 per cent more reflectivity than the previous formula.
Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, said making sure B.C.’s roads and highways are as safe as possible is the ministry’s highest priority.
“Road markings need to not only survive, but shine on B.C.’s West Coast, especially at night and in rainy conditions,” Travena said. “By including larger, higher quality glass beads in our paint mix, it will be easier for people to see our lines when it’s dark and the weather is bad.”
The new formula is part of a pavement marking service agreement, the most recent of which will go into effect Dec. 16, 2018 and include changes made to improve on the current agreements. Twenty per cent more lines will be painted annually throughout the province, and thicker paint will be used for longer-lasting pavement marking in coastal areas.
As well, second coats will be applied in areas that experience premature wear, and monitoring and auditing will be enhanced, to maintain consistency.
Vancouver Island is one of five pavement marking service areas in the province; each of the upcoming pavement marking service agreements, which were last tendered in 2013, are for five-year terms, and include an optional two-year extension.
Each year, 20,000 km of highways and provincially owned side roads in B.C., are painted, using close to one million litres of paint and 500,000 kg of glass beads.
