Progress in Manomet, Part 3, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

This is Part 3 of the ongoing story of improvements to the intersection of State Road (Route 3A) and Manomet Point Road in the center of the Village of Manomet. Previous posts on August 13 (see link here), and November 16 (see link here), showed the finishing of the curbing and road surface.  In this post,  the line painting was completed.

Normally, a line painting truck causes traffic back-ups and congestion but, for this project, the Plymouth Police detail officers and the construction contractors orchestrated the effort efficiently and with a minimum of inconvenience.

This new double yellow line is on Manomet Point Road approaching State Road.

This white edge line is on Strand Avenue heading toward Cape Cod Bay. Luke's is on the right, the library is on the left. 

The chalked outlines provide a guide for the machine operator.  Here he is maneuvering to continue the edge line on Manomet Point Road. This machine works for a long stretch of road but he'll need a manual push-cart type device for the smaller details.

The operator steers the machine along the guideline, the leaf blower gets rid of any debris, the "paint" (a thermoplastic highway marking material)  squirts out hot and thick (heated to 400 degrees), and the spray is the sand-like glass beads (highway safety spheres) that are embedded in the line and create the reflective ability.  The "paint" cools quickly and is hard and can be driven over in less than two minutes.

Here is the freshly "painted" line, glittering in the late afternoon sun.

Here the workmen are preparing the smaller machine.  It's about the size of a barbecue grill and even has a 20 lb propane tank to keep the "paint" hot during application.

The reservoir is filled and ready for use.

Applying the pedestrian crosswalk lines.

A worker manually sprinkles the reflective "sand" beads at the end of the line.

A pedestrian crosswalk takes shape across State Road.

The crew starts work on the turn lane arrows.

They mask the angles to create the arrowhead....

....and then remove the masking.

Have you ever wondered why they make the letters so tall and narrow?

The reason is that when viewed from the distant angular perspective of an approaching driver, they appear normal.

Next week, they expect to turn on the traffic and pedestrian signals and have a fully-functioning intersection!

As with this entire project, I've seen first hand how labor-intensive and time-consuming it is to create just a small portion of roadway.  I, like many, take it for granted daily as we drive around not really appreciating the complexity of design, engineering, procurement, equipment, and human muscle power that every piece of roadway requires.

  

Next time you see a construction project, slow down and help keep the workers safe as they improve our roads. There is a reason they wear those brightly colored vests - so you can see them easily and stay out of their way! And SLOW DOWN!