When the lines blur
Dr. Detour: Where to turn when road stripes fade.
Doctor Detour answers your transportation questions.
Q: Why don’t they regularly restripe the roads? I have trouble seeing the white lines, sometimes, especially when it rains. Arthur Pion, Boca Raton.
A: It depends on whether the state, county or a municipality is responsible for the roadway’s maintenance.
There is no set schedule or cycle for restriping state roads and federal highways. The Florida Department of Transportation does it as needed depending on how faded the lines are and how poorly they reflect headlights. Newly resurfaced roads will have pavement markings done immediately.
Palm Beach County restripes roads as needed and the stripes last about eight to 10 years, officials said.
Broward County does striping, turn arrows and other road markings on county roads and some city streets on a regular cycle that repeats every four to five years. If there is a roadway where the stripes and markings have worn out faster, then the county will make restoring them a priority.
Cities and homeowner associations have their own schedules. Anyone who sees a road that needs restriping should contact the appropriate entity.
Q: I know there are plans to close the missing link on Hiatus Road between Sunrise and Oakland Park boulevards, but are there any plans to connect Hiatus Road between Cooper City and Davie? Paul Bacon, Hallandale Beach.
A: No. Broward County of-
fered, in 1994, to widen a two-lane stretch of Hiatus Road and close the gap but Davie officials declined.
It would require bridging the C-11 canal that flows between Orange Drive and Griffin Road, and paving between Griffin Road and Southwest 48th Street, and between Southwest 49th and 55th streets, just north of Stirling Road.
Hiatus Road’s missing link between Sunrise and Oakland Park boulevards is expected to open this week.
When open, Hiatus will run from McNab Road in Tamarac to Orange Drive in Davie. It will resume just north of Stirling Road in Cooper City and continue to Red Road in Miramar.