Special-Color Pavement Marking for Highway Work Zones: Literature Review of International Practices

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Roadway lanes are often repositioned to accommodate highway work operations; as a result, pavement markings need to be altered. Although there are various methods for removing or obscuring existing pavement markings, “ghost” markings often remain at the locations of the old lane lines. These ghost markings can be quite conspicuous under certain lighting conditions, creating the potential for road user confusion. The Canadian province of Ontario and several European countries routinely use a special marking color (orange or yellow) to increase the salience of temporary lane lines. Special-color markings have also been used experimentally in Australia; New Zealand; Quebec City, Canada; and the United States. As a first step toward identifying the benefits and risks of special-color markings, existing practices from several countries are reviewed and summarized. The review identified a significant policy difference among jurisdictions: in some jurisdictions special-color markings override existing markings (so that the old markings are left in place), whereas other jurisdictions use special-color temporary marking but also attempt to remove old lane lines. The recent special-color marking demonstration projects in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States have been on major freeways, but European practice suggests that special-color marking could have significant benefit for urban arterial streets.