May 3, 2007 2 min read

As the weather is turning warmer, line-painting crews with the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will be out and about applying yellow and white paint to about 12,000 miles of lines in Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties. Crews start the season in April and shut down about mid-November, using 103,000 gallons of white paint and 109,000 gallons of yellow paint. Crews also will apply more than 1.6 million pounds of glass beads to add reflectivity. The total cost for these materials used in District 12 is $1,775,000, PennDOT said.

State-maintained roads are painted a minimum of once a year and major state routes with higher volumes of traffic such as Interstate 70, Interstate 79, Route 40, Route 22, Route 119, Route 66, Route 88 and Route 19 are painted a second time prior to winter.

“The placement of pavement markings is one of the more important services rendered to the public to provide safety for motorists,” said Joseph Szczur, PennDOT district executive. “The painted lines serve as guidelines to motorists and are reflective to enhance the safety of nighttime driving,” Szczur said.

District 12 has two line-painting crews: one covering roads in Westmoreland and Fayette and the other covering Washington and Greene counties.

The line-painting process requires four PennDOT vehicles referred to as a paint train. At the front of the train, the first truck carries a sign alerting motorists of line painting and cautions them to not pass the trucks.

The second is the paint truck, which carries 1,000 gallons of paint and 6,000 pounds of glass beads.

A supply truck carrying additional paint and beads follows with an arrow advising motorists not to pass.

A crash truck is last and stays far enough behind the procession to allow time for the paint to dry (usually 3 to 5 minutes depending on temperature and humidity).

The paint is sprayed downward with a paint gun, following the standard width of 6 inches and length of 10 feet for both edge lines on interstate and four-lane highways.

Although the trucks travel slowly, motorists are cautioned not to pass them as this may cause wet paint to splash on the vehicles.

If the paint is noticed right away (usually in about 20 minutes) it can usually be removed with a high power hose at most carwashes, PennDOT said.

PennDOT District 12 covers Greene, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.