Saturday, May 28, 2016

Improve Road Safety With Bus Lane Colored Surfacing

By Jerry Perry


Over many years, highway engineers have enhanced road safety through an anti-skid coating on road surfaces. This has become very effective in saving lives and lowering accidents rates. High friction surfacing has greatly cut down on vehicle-related accidents and financial related expenses arising from accidents. Again, bus lane colored surfacing can be achieved by high friction surfacing. The material used to color the roads makes it possible to delineate some areas on the roads, and this acts as a means of strengthening conventional road markings.

Basically, materials used in lane treatment provides skid resistance making it possible to achieve some braking distance. The colored lanes have also become effective in lowering serious traffic contraventions in many areas. This has made this kind of treatment ideal for certain areas such as pedestrian crossing, rail crossing, cycle paths, bus lanes and busy junctions. The markings are also ideal in alerting road users as they get near more modified areas.

Essentially, during certain times or days, bus lanes are always restricted to buses, and also help public transport from being held by the traffic jam. Normally, colored treatment on these lanes is always done by combining it with other signs on the road. The treatments have to be done up to a minimum that would be required to express the desired massages to the road users. Color surface treatment can be used only when drivers have to avoid or proceed with caution.

Red and grey surfacing are normally used on bus lanes. Nevertheless, red treatment should be done at bus gates and on 24 hour lanes. The red treatment is done to complement road signs in an effort to achieve road safety. It is also used to indicate substantial modification in road character like a sub urban gateway. On the other hand, grey treatment with anti-skid material is used purely because of its physical properties, for instance, in roundabout circulation, pedestrian crossing approaches and high stress areas.

In case the red marking is performed on cycle lanes, it is usually aimed at showing mandatory and advisory signs near access to cycle lanes. Again, it can be used in private pavements with heavy traffic or across side roads entrance.

It is significant to know that more colored surfaces can never be acknowledged to be road makings or signs. This implies that the color markings lack legal condition. Many of such colors are used to affirm right road makings. Nevertheless, such measures results in improving roads safety and operations.

The first step before undertaking this form of markings on the roads is to recognize operational and safety problems. This would actually demand thorough investigations. Also, this would ensure that the markings are in good condition, right size, not obscured and offers sufficient performance. In case the current markings do not provide the desired result, an upgrade would be necessary.

When accurately done, colored surfaces results in huge benefits. This treatment approach has been used in controlling specific accidents and ensuring that the roads are efficient and effective. This has made bus lane marking an important undertaking.




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