All over Seattle today, trucks will be out painting new stripes on the city’s roadways. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) says they will be painting 1,148 miles of roadway over the next five months. They say the majority of work begins tomorrow, and could continue through late September, depending on weather.
SDOT tells us what drivers can expect:
The work will primarily involve slow moving paint trucks, averaging about three to six miles an hour. Drivers may encounter slight delays as a result. There will be no lane closures required, unless extensive lay-out (measuring) is needed to delineate lane markings that have been totally eradicated by traffic and snow removal. In which case, warning signs will be posted.
The road striping, which requires dry weather, could start as early as 5 a.m., but will likely take place between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. mainly on secondary arterials Tuesdays through Fridays. Arterials, the Downtown Core area (First through Sixth avenues), and known high-volume traffic areas will be striped early Saturday mornings to minimize the impact on motorists.
Road striping is done every year, and is funded through the Bridging the Gap initiative and the General Fund, says SDOT.
In Chicago they paint bike lanes across the metal gianrtg of bridges.The surface is sort of OK when it’s dry if you’re used to it, and don’t go fast or make sudden movements, but, indeed, when they are wet you have essentially no traction. It also sort of depends what tires you have my Armadillos are totally useless on metal surfaces. One winter I used some kind of Panaracer tires on the recommendation that they were good winter road tires, and they did much better on slick surfaces, but they were NOT BOMBPROOF ENOUGH.On dry days I’ll still ride the bridges in Seattle (especially the Montlake bridge), but not when it’s wet.