Victoria — Thanks to the British Columbia government’s rollout of new reflective paint, drivers in the Lower Mainland will soon be able to see road markings on provincial highways much better.
The Department of Transport has begun applying a new, specially developed paint to over 3,000 kilometers of roads in the Lower Mainland, Pemberton, Victoria, and Duncan. This paint contains larger, higher-quality reflective glass beads.
These beads will make yellow and white road markings easier for drivers to see at night and in the rain, and will also address long-standing concerns among municipalities regarding the poor readability and deterioration of old road markings. Provincial Highway 1, which runs through Metro Vancouver and connects Abbotsford and North Vancouver, will be one of the first roads to use the new markings.
The changes are part of a $4 million increase in the Department of Transportation’s annual highway maintenance budget, which will help fund new five-year maintenance contracts with private companies that require them to apply 20 percent more road markings across the province, apply a second coat of paint in areas where paint fades the fastest, and better monitor paint quality on provincial highways.
Transport Minister Claire Trevina stated: “This investment is absolutely worth it. Safety is our top priority. This investment is justified because it not only keeps people safe, but also ensures safer driving because drivers can clearly see traffic lanes and kerbs.”
Since Ottawa banned the use of oil-based road paints, widely used in most provinces, in 2010, the disappearance of road markings has become a major issue facing the Ministry of Transportation, forcing provinces to seek alternatives. British Columbia switched to less polluting alkyd paints on coastal and northern roads and water-based paints in inland areas, but both types of paint had poor durability and lasted less than a year.
Officials subsequently began exploring ways to develop new coatings. After testing in 2017, they identified a new “high-solid particulate coating” that could be applied in particularly thick layers to withstand harsh winters, salt, snow chains, and snow removal in British Columbia’s interior and northern regions; as well as a “high-performance glass bead coating” whose reflective properties are better suited to the humid coastal climate of Vancouver Island, the mainland, and the Sunshine Coast.
Glass bead coatings are currently being actively promoted. However, this thick coating failed testing, as shipping companies encountered difficulties maintaining stability at coating thicknesses greater than 18 mils. Therefore, the government reverted to a less durable two-layer coating, which claims to achieve a total thickness of 32 mils, but is more expensive to apply and requires longer processing times.
The government is currently accepting applications from new road repair contractors, and Trevina said they will be required to comply with new requirements regarding additional painting and second coats of paint.
Trevina said: “Safety is our top priority and I have been emphasizing that we must ensure that contractors do a quality job.”
The Kokihara Highway, one of the worst roads in the province, will be paved with a mixture of two surfaces: a glass bead surface on wet sections of the southern road leading to Hope, and a double layer on sections near the mountain peaks where snow is more likely.
However, while painting may improve the situation somewhat, it will not last all winter, as extreme weather conditions, snow plows, snow chains, sand, and studded tires will actually peel the asphalt off the road, not just the paint.
Post time: Jan-16-2026