Back in January of 2009 I wrote a post about how bad a particular highway in Virginia was when it rained. VA-42 between Broadway and Harrisonburg is 4 lanes all the way and is well trafficked, and yet had no lights or any form of marking on the road other than the paint. This is all well and good, during the day or in good weather. At night, when it’s raining, the lights from cars just reflect off the shiny water surface and the lines become invisible. I realized with snow and plowing etc that reflectors might not be a good idea, but some other main roads in the area have recessed reflectors that work well.
It seems VDOT have realized the lack of safety when it rains on roads like 42, and on the recently surfaced sections of the road, the sections closest to H’burg and closest to Broadway, they have installed reflectors. Hopefully whenever they get around to resealing the middle section it’ll get the same treatment, but for now I’m happy that even just part of the road should be visible at night, when it’s raining.
See, in New Zealand we have cheap little things all over the place called reflectors. Red ones either side, and white or yellow ones in the middle (signifying whether you can or can’t pass, respectively). Here? There are just lines painted on the road. That is perfect on fine days. It’s even pretty good at night. Sometimes during the day when it’s raining. Couple together darkness and road surfaces, and the paint is almost invisible. There are NO reflective markings whatsoever, unless you happen to be driving on a major road like the interstate. We regularly drive on a Virginia highway (VA-42) but there are no reflective markings on this road. I’m also not aware of any reflective markers in Harrisonburg, either on US-33 or US-11. I really don’t know how people here manage to not have serious accidents more often.