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New paint lasts for a long time As I drive from Medford to Grants Pass I see that they are painting lines on the freeway. But, I see they paint for a bit, then stop. Or the painted line runs for a bit, then it skips right in the middle for a few feet then picks back up. The crews paint then stop for weeks then they are gone, yet nothing is finished. This same thing happened when they were painting in the Grants Pass I-5 area last year. Why is this? There is no rhyme or reason to their pattern or schedule. -- Lloyd S., Grants Pass The paint you see being used for stripes on the freeway isn't traditional paint, which is fairly quick to apply. It's a new type of durable paint that lasts longer. "The downside of it is it's a pain to apply," said John Vial, district manager of the Oregon Department of Transportation. To make the durable paint, two components are mixed together in hoppers that are small. Not only is the crew getting used to a new product, but they have a very narrow climatic window in which they can stripe the road. Vial said there can't be any moisture in the air, the pavement can't be hotter than 100 degrees, and the pavement can't be cool either (Vial didn't have that cool temperature number handy). If the pavement temperature were to exceed 100 degrees, that would explain why crews would have to stop painting before the project was finished. As for the gaps in the lines, Vial said one explanation is simply that the crew made a mistake. But he said most of the gaps are because ODOT managers saw a line that was wobbly, for example, and asked the crew to grind that paint off and redo it. While the durable paint takes longer to apply, Vial thinks it will save money down the road. Stripes painted with the traditional paint are redone twice a year, but the durable paint is expected to last seven years. It's already been shown to last longer on the Siskiyou Pass, where the centerline used to wear off every winter because of sand on the road. Because paint couldn't be applied when it was wet outside, motorists would go without seeing stripes on the pass for a long time. But about three years ago, the new durable paint was used for the centerline on the pass, and it hasn't had to be repainted yet. Today's News Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA