Advocacy & Safety - A bucket of solutions!!!!!!

I was riding in the bike lane home and I had a great idea. I observed that on the worn “bone shaking” road
that the reflective paint used to mark out the bike lane and the “BIKE LANE” letters were raised. On
an earlier stretch of road that was newly paved that this was not so even though it was marked with the
same reflective yellow paint. My assumption was that over time the highly durable paint had prevented
some of the erosion “also due to the repainting, but not so much”. I conducted an experiment and road
straight down the unbroken yellow line, and found that it was infinitely smoother then the bare road.

So I thought of an idea for both, safety and comfort. It is expensive to totally repave a road, but to
repaint a bike lane with a thick layer of paint would be far cheaper. Though not all of the paint should be
reflective “as it would be blinding” the lane would be far more visible being fully painted in. Two other
benefits. One that with ware and further painting the bike lane would be raised up as much as half an
inch, so when cars “accidentally” veered into a bike lane they would encounter a far more distinct bump
and be less likely to ignore their veering. Two the lane would be far smoother then the worn pavement,
and we would all get our dream ride “smooth” without demanding that the city spend millions to repave.
Good idea?

So I thought of an idea for both, safety and comfort. repaint a bike lane with a thick layer of paint. Good idea?
Just wait until it rains, then go for a ride on your "thick layer of paint."

Of course the paint would have a type of fine texture to it "a course sand, also a good thickener for the
paint" this would prevent most of the major problems with "slippery while wet" but then again a newly paved
road is also slick when wet. Most would agree give me that over a rough one any day.

Anything else?

Where is the locale you're considering? San Diego or Phoenix, sure no problem. Otherwise the paint will be slippery when wet no matter if you texturize it. (this will cause more tire wear, by the way) Also, paint isn't cheap. Labor isn't either and the product you've encountered is highly durable because of the reapplications. A good idea, yes. Something to build on.

Not cheap but much cheaper, its application could be limited to only major traffic areas. If enough people
got behind it, it would happen. Also I'm sure a textured paint, would not ware tires more then normal
roads "depending on the aggregate used" and I'm sure it wouldn't at any time be slicker then new
pavement. I guess some testing would be in line before extensive application, but all such road
applications have testing periods, and with many medium to large urban areas considering the usage the
testing would be miniscule in cost as the information gleaned from a few tests would be applicable in
many areas.

Also as stated repainting is already scheduled into road up keep, the cost would mostly be in added paint.
It might be less of a drain on current budget then thought.

And yes mostly mid to southern towns would benefit from it merely because of winter conditions. Then
again riding on ice on pavement or any surface is still riding on ice.

Consider a metropolitan area like St. Louis County, it always has bad riding conditions for two out of
twelve months, but the added benefit of comfort and safety for the rest of those months could be
substantial enough to warrant Full paint lanes.

The paint you're referring too is mostly melted plastic. I'll take new asphalt over plastic any day.

Remember Trees an agrigate and testing

All I can say is, are there going to be Munchkins?

The paint you're referring too is mostly melted plastic. I'll take new asphalt over plastic any day.
Asphalt itself is essentially melted plastic of a lower tech variety.

I was riding in the bike lane home and I had a great idea. I observed that on the worn “bone shaking” road
that the reflective paint used to mark out the bike lane and the “BIKE LANE” letters were raised. On
an earlier stretch of road that was newly paved that this was not so even though it was marked with the
same reflective yellow paint. My assumption was that over time the highly durable paint had prevented
some of the erosion “also due to the repainting, but not so much”. I conducted an experiment and road
straight down the unbroken yellow line, and found that it was infinitely smoother then the bare road.

So I thought of an idea for both, safety and comfort. It is expensive to totally repave a road, but to
repaint a bike lane with a thick layer of paint would be far cheaper. Though not all of the paint should be
reflective “as it would be blinding” the lane would be far more visible being fully painted in. Two other
benefits. One that with ware and further painting the bike lane would be raised up as much as half an
inch, so when cars “accidentally” veered into a bike lane they would encounter a far more distinct bump
and be less likely to ignore their veering. Two the lane would be far smoother then the worn pavement,
and we would all get our dream ride “smooth” without demanding that the city spend millions to repave.
Good idea?
Bogus idea. Painting won't do jack to help the substrate material. Sure it will look all nice and pretty, for about five seconds. There's a reason they have to repair roads and it ain't simply because they're not glassy smooth.

Putting down a durable paint across an entire bike lane might cost more per square yard than a layer of asphalt.

Mixing an abrasive media into the paint to provide wet weather traction would not be very durable and when it wears, you would have a deathtrap.

Chip seal, used to extend the life of rural roads is similar to what you propose. A layer of sealant is applied over the existing ashphalt followed by a layer of rock. The sealant protects the unlying roadbed from water penetration and the rock provides traction. Unfortunately, for us cyclists who have to ride on it, a new layer of chip seal, even when the smaller sized rock is used, is a nightmare.

I was riding in the bike lane home and I had a great idea. I observed that on the worn “bone shaking” road
that the reflective paint used to mark out the bike lane and the “BIKE LANE” letters were raised. On
an earlier stretch of road that was newly paved that this was not so even though it was marked with the
same reflective yellow paint. My assumption was that over time the highly durable paint had prevented
some of the erosion “also due to the repainting, but not so much”. I conducted an experiment and road
straight down the unbroken yellow line, and found that it was infinitely smoother then the bare road.

I hate to burst your bubble here but the difference that you observed is not due to protection of the road surface by the paint but more due to the quality of paint used. When local authorities come to using road paint they tend to use heavier, denser paint on old surfaces not yet up for resurfacing and thinner paint on new, smooth surfaces. This is because the thicker paint fills in the surface better and looks like a better job has been done. The thinner paint is just cheaper. Occasionally they use whatever is available or close at hand which can leave nice fat ridges on an otherwise smooth roadway.