BELLINGHAM — Anyone who has driven in Washington knows that it can be tough to see the road when it’s raining, especially at night. Reflectors can go a long way in helping with that.
Recently, entertainment account Seattle Submissions posted a video to social media of a dark road on a highway on a rainy night, captioned “can someone in WA tell why our freeways don’t have reflectors?” The video received over 10,000 likes on Instagram, and nearly 70,000 views on X, formerly known as Twitter.
But are they really that uncommon across the state? And if so, why doesn’t the state install more?
Most WA highways use reflective paint
According to Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson Tina Werner, the state employs a variety of different methods for making lane stripes visible at night. That includes reflectors, although they’re not the most common method.
“Paint is the most common and cost-effective marking material,” Werner said in an email to McClatchy. “To enhance the visibility of our pavement markings — lane stripes — at night, glass beads are surface applied and embedded into the paint. Vehicle headlights reflect off the beads making the paint more visible.”
WSDOT makes sure the glass pieces are slightly higher than the road to improve visibility in the rain.
“We have found that laying the beads on the surface of the paint helps keep the glass beads above the water surface when it rains, improving their effectiveness.”
However, the reason the state typically uses glass-studded paint instead of reflectors ultimately comes down to budget.
“It is important to note that paint is pennies per foot while the other markings are dollars per foot, so they are used in select locations depending on a variety of factors, including limited maintenance budgets to maintain the markings,” Werner said.
Reflectors are installed on select highways
On highways where drivers are deemed to need better visibility, the state often opts to install reflectors, Werner said. However, reflectors are more expensive than paint, so the state has to be selective with where it employs them.
“To further enhance visibility, we use raised pavement markers — yellow or white reflective buttons in the roadway — in select locations which provide additional visibility during wet and nighttime conditions,” Werner said.
There are two types of reflector that the state uses: surface-mounted reflectors and recessed.
“When the reflective raised pavement markers are surface-mounted, the reflector is placed on top of the roadway,” Werner said. “This makes it easier to reflect light and improves visibility in the rain and at night.”
But while they might be the best for visibility, surface-mounted reflectors have a few notable drawbacks.
“These markings are easily scraped off the roadway by snowplows, studded tires or the traveling public,” Werner said. “They are expensive to buy, install and maintain. The work is labor-intensive and puts our crews near moving traffic.”
Recessed markers, placed just below the surface, are less likely to be scraped off, but are more difficult and expensive to install and easily covered by water when it rains, according to Werner.
How WSDOT marks roads: costs, budget and traffic
Werner added that on certain roads in the western half of the state, WSDOT embeds bumps made from methyl methacrylate, a compound often used in plastics or resins that can be used to improve the durability of road markings as well, adding another layer of reflective material. The department has also started testing preformed thermoplastic tape as a potential alternative.
So how does the state decide which highways just get painted lane stripes and which ones get an additional visibility aid? Ultimately, the decision comes down to a combination of factors, including location, visibility issues and budget, Werner said.
“Each roadway is evaluated to determine the best method or combination of methods to use to enhance visibility for the traveling public as limited funding allows,” Werner said.
WSDOT’s biennial budget allocates $621 million to highway maintenance and operations. Half of the budget is funded by tax revenue, most of which comes from the state’s $0.49 per gallon gas tax, which is the fourth-highest in the country when related fees are factored in as well. The rest of the budget primarily comes from federal funds and bond sales, with each accounting for roughly a fifth of the department’s funding.
