Glow in The Dark Highway

couple of years ago, back in 2012, there was a concept that was created by a Dutch designer Dan Roosegaarde, which suggested that glow in the dark road markings should be used in place of street lights.

The goal was to create the roads to be more interactive whilst at the same time help to cut down on the amount of electricity, resources and Carbon footprint that is required to maintain street lighting.  This was especially meant for long stretches of highway.

The concept has moved on from that stage and is now in testing. Currently one of Netherlands’ highways, the N329 highway, located in Oss, has replaced its street lighting with glow in the dark road markings that stretch for a length of 500m.

The glow in the dark markings have been created using a photo-luminescent powder which has been integrated into the road paint and has then been painted onto the roads.  Road construction company, Heijmans, in conjuction with Studio Roosegaarde, undertook this unusual work. The long term goal is to eventually add more areas as well as to include technology such as weather markings, such snow drops, that would illuminate once a certain temperature is reached. Unfortunately, as with most new and fresh ideas involving the infrastructure of certain countries, due to the lack of contracts, expansion of this plan is still ‘on hold’