Someday that white highway stripe and those familiar road signs will be as visible to the human eye on a dark stormy night as they are in bright sunlight. And that's a good thing, especially considering the vision-deteriorating eyes of the aging American population. But while such technology -- as described by Larry Lair, vice president of traffic safety systems for 3M, is well on its way, other kinds of highway vision must still be developed.
These were some conclusions a gathering of highway industry officials came to on Thursday, June 29, as a 50th anniversay two-day forum wrapped up at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the Transportation Construction Coalition, the forum included discussion of GPS technology in construction, ground penetrating radars to detect hidden utilizites, radio-frequency chips in lane stripes to guide vehicles, and of course the future of the troubled highway trust fund. Asset management and high-tech solutions will be vital to helping the Interstate survive and thrive as it enters its next half-century. But overall, the nation's highway system needs a vision--and not just hindsight.