The California Department of Transportation plans to begin putting 6-in. stripes on I-5 from Orland to the Oregon border during the first half of this year.
The new striping regimen will replace 4-in. striping presently in place with much brighter and more durable striping, allowing, according to Caltrans, both human drivers and driverless cars to “read the road” more easily and clearly.
Donald Anderson, Caltrans District 2 deputy director of maintenance and operations, told USA Today, “As our population is getting older, we are looking at doing what other states have done and providing a 6-in. stripe versus the 4-in., which gives a much higher illumination and basically a much brighter stripe, especially at night when cars are traveling by it . . . This is one of the products that the autonomous vehicle manufacturers have identified as a product that they could possibly use for directing the vehicles along the state highway.”
At present, some 50 manufacturers have received permits to test autonomous vehicles on California roads, and approximately 364 such vehicles are now being actively tested.
The cost estimated for the restriping work will be $6.8 million.
Caltrans officials have directed those drivers curious for a glimpse of the wider, brighter road striping to find it on the Antlers Bridge in Lakehead, which was completed in 2016.
