NEWARK, NJ PreMark Bike Lane Green
– City workers are trying something new along East Main Street, near the Courthouse Square, highlighting a hazardous section of westbound bike lane flanked by two lanes of traffic.
On Wednesday morning, Street Department workers were installing PreMark “bike-lane green” thermoplastic squares they melted onto the road surface with propane torches. They also treated the bike lane surrounding that stretch with CycleGrip MMAX, a resin, again in bike-lane green.
That hue is approved by federal highway officials, according to Jeff Trondle, regional sales manager for Ennis-Flint, which makes and sells pavement marking products and donated them to the city for this project.
The new products are being tested in Newark in the westbound lane of East Main Street, east of the intersection with First Street. That stretch of road features a bike lane sandwiched between two lanes of motor traffic, and an adjacent parking lot and alley, which attract turning traffic.
Trondle called that road segment a “conflict zone,” which poses problems for drivers and cyclists. Coloring the bike lane bright green draws motorists’ attention to it and highlights it for bicyclists.
Trondle taught street department workers how to install the markings Wednesday.
The effort will serve as a product demonstration, according to Traffic Operations Manager B.J. Varner. City workers will monitor the lane over the winter to see how well the markings work and stand up.
jwilliams6@newarkadvocate.com
740-328-8547
Twitter: @JoeAdvocate
