New Tool for Predicting the Retroreflectivity (RL) of Pavement Markings

Retroreflectivity plays a crucial role in pavement markings as it enhances nighttime visibility for drivers. Yet, due to budget constraints, many state U.S agencies rarely monitor the retroreflectivity of their markings, and instead, restripe their markings based on visual inspection or fixed schedule.

The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's NCHRP IDEA Final Report for Project 237: New Tool for Predicting the Retroreflectivity (RL) of Pavement Markings details the development of a decision-making tool that can predict the retroreflectivity of pavement markings for up to three years using only the measured initial retroreflectivity and other readily available project data.