My Preschooler Can Draw Better Lines
I bet MoDOT never expected the I-44 restriping project to be one of the stickiest situations so far in the Highway 40/I-64 construction project. First were the concerns about the safety of moving from four lanes to five. Then, the project was delayed from a scheduled completion of November 1st (as reported by the Kirkwood-Webster Times) to still not being done 10 days before the Highway 40 shutdown. Finally is the fiasco of the actual restriping itself — I drove I-44 to downtown on Monday, and it was frightening: vanishing lane lines, wide lanes, and a sudden move from five lanes to three near the I-55 merge. As expected, MoDOT said the situations were temporary and due in part to the recent weather. However, 6 days later, I still found many problems with the restriping.
The glare from the sun on the camera might magnify the problem, but I can assure you that the lane lines were quite difficult to see at times. MoDOT needs to do the following:
- Finish the restriping — this includes the missing right lane line on eastbound I-44, and all the ramps.
- Repaint all the faded lines — this needs to last for two years and the current condition is unacceptable. If the weather’s too cold, then perhaps they should get out there with blowtorches. That’s what I saw in New Jersey last week as road workers there used blowtorches to dry the roads in preparation for painting during cold, wet weather
- Regrind out the old lines — in too many places, the old lane lines still appear white. They need to be ground out again.
If MoDOT expects I-44 to take up the most traffic from the Highway 40 shutdown, then they need to get this restriping right. And the “temporary situation” excuse won’t cut it. If someone’s in an accident due to these poor lane lines, they won’t care if the situation was there for a day or a year. If it isn’t safe, it needs to be fixed immediately.
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Safety, I-44. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
on December 27, 2007 at 11:41 pm Tom wrote:
I drove 44 home from the hockey game last night, in the dark and in the rain and it was not easy to follow the lanes. The lines they removed were still partially visible and the new lines have very little reflection and very hard to follow. I think there will be many accidents in the coming years……. very sad.
on December 28, 2007 at 3:55 pm Jennifer wrote:
Yes, it is the worst in the rain at night. Lanes appear and disappear out of nowhere. The lanes are narrow so when someone in the lane next to you swerves because of the lane confusion their car is practically touching your car. What is someone to do if they actually would have to pull over? The shoulders are now about 1 and 1/2 foot wide. The 6 P’s . . . Proper Planning Prevents #### Poor Production. I dont think as much planning went into this project as we are being told.