The darkest day of the year is fast approaching. On Saturday 21st December, the UK will receive just seven hours and 49 minutes of daylight - grim, we know.
The Winter Solstice does present a great opportunity for us to talk about one of our favourite topics this year though. Glow-in-the-dark road markings, or, to give them their more technical name, photoluminescent line marking paint.
If you’re on our mailing list then you will no doubt have seen our announcement about becoming the exclusive supplier of LuminoKrom in the UK. They offer a truly world-leading photoluminescent line marking paint tried and tested across 300 projects worldwide.
And you will be familiar with the many benefits too, including:
- 10-hour glow time
- Anti-slip properties- Low environmental impact
- Can be applied to various road surfaces
- Increased safety in low-lit areas
And right now, especially as council budgets continue to be pressured, we think it’s time local authorities and transport bodies look more closely at this technology too.
A brighter, safer, more economical and greener way forward?
We think so, yes.
Photoluminescent road markings offer a fantastic solution to denote the edge of walkways, paths, lanes and roads where applying street lighting wouldn’t be possible. And throughout the winter months, that’s potentially millions of people using walkways, cycle lanes and busy unlit country roads going about their normal days.
They’re also a fantastic alternative in areas where there may be environmental factors why artificial lighting can’t be used, such as to protect dark skies or for animal welfare.
But most of all, there are serious cost and carbon savings to be made. Whilst this paint technology does cost more than a traditional line marking paint, it reduces the need for additional street lighting, saving the cost of initial installation and ongoing electricity and maintenance costs too.
Much of the talk on photoluminescent road paint has been from Australia in recent years with various districts including Victoria testing the technology against paint that’s more reflective and also LED tactile paving for pedestrian crossings.
But talk of the tech has been growing here in the UK too.
Chair of the British Motorcyclist Federation, Jim Freeman, said earlier this year that glow-in-the-dark line marking paint could be as transformative as cat’s eyes: “If this works as advertised it could be the biggest safety improvement in night riding since the invention of cat’s eyes. Now we only need to get rid of stupidly powerful LED and Laser headlights on SUVs and the like, which are horrifically dangerous for riders in bad weather conditions.”
At Lineway, we’re extremely confident as to the positive argument for photoluminescence in line marking and the safety benefits it can deliver. And for local authorities, there are safety gains and longer-term cost savings to be made too.
Learn more about our partnership with LuminoKrom and our glow-in-the-dark road markings here.
Comments