why are cats' eyes being removed from roads

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bitslice

bitslice

bitslice

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having seen a few road signs warning of "cats eyes removed",
I've now noticed a lot of roads with them missing :confused:

apart from trying to kill us all as usual, what is Staffordshire Council trying to achieve ?
 
Save money no doubt, its the same reason when i cross into staffordshire they can't be bothered to grit the roads, however back in good old cheshire all is well.
 
I was thinking more along the lines of they have failed or been ripped out, bet they cost a few quid each since they have glass optics / self cleaning iirc.
 
the only theory that I could come up with is that they are pointlessly dressing the surface ?

honestly if they don't fill that three year old ruddy great crater on the road near me then I'm going to draw a circle around it and write MOON underneath :(
especially annoying as I'm getting fed up with seeing them re-lay the same perfect section of A34 every other year.
 
They did it on the A5 at Gailey and then replaced them with the terrible glass dome type that don't retract when you drive over them. Bad enough in the car but a nightmare when you go over them on the bike!:mad:
 
bitslice said:
having seen a few road signs warning of "cats eyes removed",
I've now noticed a lot of roads with them missing :confused:

apart from trying to kill us all as usual, what is Staffordshire Council trying to achieve ?
Click to expand...

Maybe they've removed them to install new ones but have not done so yet?
 
The new ones they put down are loads better, brighter (more reflective) and you can barely feel them when running over them.
 
Usually, you get those signs because they've removed them in preperation for going along and resurfacing the road/modifying the road markings afterwards.
 
bitslice said:
the only theory that I could come up with is that they are pointlessly dressing the surface ?

honestly if they don't fill that three year old ruddy great crater on the road near me then I'm going to draw a circle around it and write MOON underneath :(
especially annoying as I'm getting fed up with seeing them re-lay the same perfect section of A34 every other year.
Click to expand...

Lies! The entire A34 is rubbish.

Besides, you haven't seen anything until you've seen the entrance to the train station overflow carpark here - there's basically a 2ft gap between the road and the car park which is about 6 inches + deep. Wiped out my undertray on it the other day :(
 
I know a worrying amount about cats eyes as i work within the construction industry.

The traditional halifax road stud known as the "Cats eye" is a cast iron base with retroreflective inserts. the iron part remains in the road for a long time but the inserts are replaced at relatively high intervals.

Unfortunately if the cast iron bases are very old or have been loosned due to heavy trafficing, they become a serious hazard as they can be flicked up by lorry tyres. because they are so heavy they can be a very dangerous missile and have caused at least one death that i know about. therefore most Highways agency operated roads are seeing the traditional halifax stud phased out and replaced with armour studs or similar (the toughened glass domes). These are far more resiliant than the old studs and perform better at light reflection.

This is probably what is happening in your area. Either that or they have removed them in preparation for pavement renewal. Note often roadworks are carried out with large time intervals inbetween start and finish as you are not allowed more than 1 set of roadworks within 10km radius on the same road and programming slots on a heavily worked road can be difficult.
 
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