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Since You Asked: Those taped squares on I-5 were sensor markers Friday Oct 21, 2016 at 12:01 AM I can't stop thinking about the tape squares that can be seen in intervals on Interstate 5. I can't figure out the purpose of those squares. What are they for? My gut says they are for sensing the vehicle traffic/movement for traffic monitoring. — Brad, via email   Well, Brad, you are right. Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman Gary Leaming tells us that those taped-off sections — they're actually more of a D-shape, he says — are marking sensors that record traffic speed and volume. They are part of an ODOT lighting study the agency is doing in an effort to make work zones safer. Lights are placed at the beginning of such zones, then in the middle, with the sensors recording data at both locations to see what type of lighting is the most efficient and whether traffic slows down appropriately. "It compares the speed of the vehicles as they come through the work zone with the type of lighting that is illuminating," Leaming said.  — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to mailtribune.com/youasked. To see a collection of columns, go to mailtribune.com/youasked. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.