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this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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Toronto
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In Canada street paint lasst ~2 years (it typically fades noticeably after the first winter) and during those 2 years it's obfuscated by snow 10% of the time.
That’s because they’re driven on by cars. Pavement can last decades without potholes and only minimal repainting if it’s for pedestrians and bikes. That’s one of the reasons why car infrastructure is the most expensive transportation infrastructure possible. Cars are a huge drain on taxes.
I thinks the salt used for melting the ice, the high variations of temperature, the surface being wet non stop for weeks when the snow melts and the frequent snow plowing (which is a huge metal shovel that scraps the pavement) contributes a lot to the fading.
I fucking hate cars too and I agree with you they are completely inefficient. But paint on pavement in cities where the temperature is near 0°C a good part of the year is also inefficient.
I doubt the plowing is a big factor since we actually plow our bike lanes much less frequently than other cold countries like Finland and they paint their bike roads. Then again, you have a good point about paint being invisible because it gets covered in snow.
In Finland they use lamps above bike lanes to add colour and signage over the snow. I just think the gray asphalt makes it feel like the area is still for cars. That psychological effect is a huge part of good street design.
I would have agreed, but you should see the state of affairs that some of our bike paths are in, and it didn't take decades for them to look like that. Our winters and the combination of salt + freeze/thaw cycles is what destroy asphalt.
Car's don't help, but they aren't the main problem, or else you'd see highways crumbling after a few weeks with almost 400,000 cars and trucks driving on them daily (i.e. HWY 401).
There is a car-free island off of Toronto with pristine roads. Take a look at around the 2-minute mark of this Not Just Bikes video.
This is also why university campuses, which have tons of pedestrian pavement, aren't full of potholes every spring. Same with outdoor malls, amusement parks, and on and on. The freeze thaw doesn't help, but it isn't the main problem.