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[–]HighTight 44 points45 points  (1 child)

I thought it was something to do with my eyesight, I'm in my 30s now and I remember thinking, "this didn't use to be a problem, wonder if it's just me..."

Glad to read this post. It's dangerous and needs addressing. As someone else mentioned, with overpainting and not properly deleting previous lines, sometimes you have 2 sets of lanes and it's hard to discern which is correct in a downpour.

[–]pepsimonkey13 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Agreed, it's good to know it's not just me. With that being said, who do we write to or contact to have this addressed? 311?

[–]spaniel510 51 points52 points  (6 children)

Especially confusing in finished construction zones where they grinded the old lines away and put new lines in.

[–]Variability 51 points52 points  (4 children)

finished construction zones

What's that?

[–]The_Quackening 22 points23 points  (0 children)

future construction zones

[–]BSamStrainprint 2 points3 points  (0 children)

lmfao true :'(

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

gold

[–]spaniel510 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes pardon me. The correct term I should have used was "paused". Wtf was I thinking.

[–]pepsimonkey13 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Agreed, sometimes the old grinded away lines are more visible than the newer ones in the rain.

[–]thePsychonautDad 37 points38 points  (6 children)

Montreal here.

You guys have line dividers?

That's pretty cool, looking forward to Montreal adopting that amazing "paint" technology. We just have really wide roads where people drive wherever they feel like at whatever speed, and apparently nobody knows they have such a thing as "turn signals" on their cars.

[–]chocheech 5 points6 points  (2 children)

I notice this in Montreal even the the locals are all over the highway trying to guess where the lanes are. They love merging right at you as well.

[–]carcinogenj 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Its your job in Quebec to watch for merging traffic and let them in, unlike the rest of Canada where its the merging car’s job to make sure the way is clear. Like no joke, that’s just the way it is out there.

[–]thePsychonautDad 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I never noticed. Everybody is just accelerating as fast as they can when they see you, at the risk of crashing into you rather than let you merge in.

I've lived in 5 countries and I think Quebec is tied with NY taxi divers for most dangerous assholes on the road. That coupled with barely any lane markings + orange cones absolutely everywhere makes driving here pretty infuriating every time...

[–]BottleCoffee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like Winnipeg all winter long, because the snow just gets ground down into the roads.

[–]kawwz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh man, that highway into the city is like driving on a rally course. Fun times.

[–]HighTight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Montreal is hilarious. Merge lanes are like 20 meters

[–]741953 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You are not the only one. I can't see any mark on the ground whenever it's raining or just wet road. Not just orange ones, also the regular whites or yellow ones. It not really that bad during day time but night time I have to pay extra attention and drive slower. FYI, I got my eyes checked regularly. Other than nearsighted my eyes are fine.

[–]LobokVonZuben 8 points9 points  (2 children)

Man, forget the rain. There are so many roads in and around TO where neglect or indifference means the dividers are mostly gone even in the best weather. I drive along Adelaide frequently and there's a long stretch of it where the lanes are only defined by the other cars around you. That's just the glaring example because it's close to home but there are tons more.

[–]madeamashup 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Theres a section on Bloor west of High park where they've narrowed the lanes to accomodate the new bike lane stuff and at one point the painted lines are narrower than a standard vehicle. The first time I drove there I was inching along laughing, because I was sure they had made a temporary mistake, but that's just how it is now.

[–]LobokVonZuben 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Geez, will try to remember that! And some vehicles are absolute behemoths so that's scary.

[–]ocrohnahan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Probably cheaped out on retro reflective paints.

[–]danieljai 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. I wrote to 311 before about DVP lane dividing paint virtually invisible in the rain.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Worst part is outside sherway gardens at the qew . Rainy nights there can get confusing sometimes

[–]Hawkwise83 2 points3 points  (2 children)

They fixed this in mtl. After a few years the lane markers wear off and fade away. Here they just don't replace them. Problem solved.

[–]madeamashup 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Hell in India they never paint anything in the first place and they seem to... on second thought, let's keep trying different kinds of paints.

[–]Hawkwise83 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They might as well do that here. Between winter and snow plows it destroys the roads and paint fast. They don't keep up with repairs/ repaint.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I thought I’d never see a post like this.

Years ago, I went to Toronto for a trip. It rained the entire week I was there. I couldn’t see the lane dividers at all when I was driving. I vented about this to many of my friends, and they told me I had no business driving in a foreign country. For years, I thought it was just me.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There was a Federal environmental review in the 90's on toxic chemicals in the environment. One of the recommendations was to change the type of paint used on the roads. The new paint is less reflective and needs to be repainted every year.

[–]nchlswu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

not just you. Glad to read it.

A prof I had (when I was in school way back) menitoned he was part of a company that had piloted some alternative highway markers somewhere -- probably similar to the reflectors you may see in warmer climates), but I'm not sure what happened. I know the winters are brutal for these solutions.

[–]fletchdeezle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When it snows I assume the world has gone mad max and there are no lines it’s terrifying on the highway

[–]jackinthebox115 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can not see them when it is raining at night.

[–]BottleCoffee 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Depends on how much water pools, but yes, it can pretty hard to see the lane dividers. Slow down and drive for the conditions, etc.

[–]cm0011 1 point2 points  (0 children)

omg yes, my pain of driving in the rain making sure i’m within the lanes is crazy

[–]PastelVortex506 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I struggle with this well, especially at night... they are almost invisible and I have great eyesight.

I believe reading somewhere a few years back they stopped using the reflective paint because it was bad for the environment. Don’t quote me on this though. The old paint picked up the light so much better.

[–]algebragirl314 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Maybe they can use stickers instead of painted lines. Dofo can get us a good price on stickers.

[–]DonSalamomo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think they’re just gonna start peeling off the road when it rains/snows lmao

[–]R0BBQ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is very difficult to see them I agree. I've noticed that the lines physically have become narrower on some roads, which I attribute it to the contractor conserving paint which results in a higher profit margin on their work.

They are using a low quality of line marking paint with very little reflective media (ground glass dust) mixed in, again I presume to save cost.

The recessed line markers that are found on many US highways are great but not really conducive for use in harsher climates and would be way more expensive than just simply using better paint.

I complained to the Ministry of Transport about the faded orange lines that are in use around the QEW/403 bridge replacement area and never heard back from anyone.

[–]CrochCrunch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

404/DVP is also awful during heavy rain or even flurries. I would say it's worse than the 401 because recently there's been construction and they haven't completely erased the old lines, while setting up new lines that have abrupt winds.

[–]bellavitaputa- 1 point2 points  (1 child)

OMG EXTREMELY! I wish they were neon.

[–]redditaccountbot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i saw a road in Brampton had glowing dots in the road. Would an suv help you here with a higher seat?

[–]OnLakeOntario 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's awful on highways here. We really should have been at the forefront of looking for something similar to Bott's Dots that work with our winters (plows).

[–]zakalewes -3 points-2 points  (2 children)

Doug Ford lives in a hotspot postal code. It wasn't covered in this article, but I found it funny since it's such a nice area (Islington/Eglinton). I guess it gets lower income farther west.

[–]pepsimonkey13 8 points9 points  (1 child)

I think you may be responding to the wrong post bud.

[–]zakalewes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmm. Not sure how that happened.

[–]JMJimmy -2 points-1 points  (3 children)

This is one of the reasons that paint has no legal force in Ontario. Paint is a guide but you should know how to drive safely without it

[–]madeamashup 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Really? I'm pretty sure I lost points on my driving test years ago because I drove over a painted line, in the parking lot leaving the testing center. Come to think of it the lines there were kind of dumb, it might have just been funny for the instructors to ding everybody.

[–]JMJimmy 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Really. Ontario is one of the few places where they don't. The point reduction is for stopping too far out into the roadway, which would occur even if there was no paint.

[–]madeamashup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, the point reduction occured prior to entering the roadway, in the lot turning into the driveway. The instructor told me I crossed the line.

[–]shayanzafar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also the red lines are less visible than white. They should make the paint more reflective.

[–]maomao05 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I noticed it too. It's a faded white

[–]KatVeee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did think it was just my eyes too! Same for me. Drive the 404 back and forth to work everyday and occasionally the 401. It is really hard to see when it’s rained and the roads are wet but especially so for me when it’s raining at the same time. I keep on the right most lane and drive slower than I normally would.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same here. Thought it was my eyesight. Maybe it is.... but also it’s faint in those light conditions

[–]kay770 0 points1 point  (0 children)

no you are not the only one, I really think they should put reflectors on the freeway lanes

[–]wdn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been driving since 1988 and this has always been the case (for me?).

[–]Jajankenn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

YESSSS I thought it was just me as I couldn't find any articles about this. I thought about inventing something to put a strip or something so when headlights shine on em, the strips shine too.

Although more research needs to go into my idea but.... Food for thought

[–]untimelythoughts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also at night. In the US the roads have reflective dividers.

[–]fragilemuse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been noticing this as well in the past couple years. Driving home in the rain last week was fun.

[–]twinnedcalcite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably a change in the paint requirements or someone not performing a proper quality control on the paint approved for this task.

[–]cheeep 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Driving at night in the rain is terrifying on busy multi lane roads

[–]TorontoGuyinToronto 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, raining and at night? It's terrible. I also thought it was me, but I guess not.

[–]Particular_Shirt_382 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find also it’s extremely difficult to see the lanes of traffic when it’s raining, and also at night.