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1999 SESSION

996668304
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 714
Offered January 21, 1999
Requesting the Virginia Department of Transportation to study use of snowplowable raised reflective pavement markers on the highways of the Commonwealth.
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Patron-- Joannou
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Referred to Committee on Transportation
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WHEREAS, snowplowable raised reflective pavement markers are designed to reflect vehicle headlight beams back toward the vehicle, providing guidance and a wealth of safety information to drivers, while not interfering with or being damaged by snowplow operations; and

WHEREAS, such markers can be spaced regularly along a highway to give the effect of lane demarcations, giving drivers reflective guides as far away as 1,000 feet, depending on road conditions and curves; and

WHEREAS, such markers provide motorists with a safety zone of 700 to 800 feet more than that provided by lines painted on the roadway; and

WHEREAS, such markers come in different colors to send different messages to the driver: white reflectors for “lane stripes” separating the lanes of four-lane highways, yellow reflectors to separate the lanes of two-lane highways, and red reflectors, on entrance ramps and similar locations, to alert drivers that they are going the wrong way; and

WHEREAS, the visual information sent to drivers at night is augmented by the slight bump they will feel when their vehicles pass over such markers when changing or leaving travel lanes; and

WHEREAS, such reflectors are set into metal castings that protrude from the road surface about a half inch, with rails sloping at a six degree angle, and allow snowplow blades to pass over them without removing the casting from the roadway, are treated to resist salt and abrasions, and are considered impervious to snowplows and automobile tires; and

WHEREAS, use of such reflectors on the highways of the Commonwealth could help reduce accidents in all weather conditions; and

WHEREAS, it would appear that use of such markers could improve safety while only marginally affecting highway construction and maintenance costs; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Virginia Department of Transportation be requested to study use of snowplowable raised reflective pavement markers on the highways of the Commonwealth.

The Department shall complete its work in time to submit its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 2000 Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.