Skip to main content

Glow-in-the-dark road debuts in the Netherlands

First promised in 2012, light-absorbing glow-in-the-dark road markings have finally made an appearance on a 500 metre stretch of the N329 road in the Netherlands. Developed by artist Daan Roosegarde and Dutch civil engineering firm Heijmans, the markings use a photo-luminescent powder integrated into the road paint, absorbing light during the day and glowing for up to eight hours in the dark. Part of Roosegarde’s vision included weather markings that become visible at certain temperatures, such as a s
April 15, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
First promised in 2012, light-absorbing glow-in-the-dark road markings have finally made an appearance on a 500 metre stretch of the N329 road in the Netherlands.

Developed by artist Daan Roosegarde and Dutch civil engineering firm 6836 Heijmans, the markings use a photo-luminescent powder integrated into the road paint, absorbing light during the day and glowing for up to eight hours in the dark.

Part of Roosegarde’s vision included weather markings that become visible at certain temperatures, such as a snowflake symbol that would appear when the temperature reached a certain level. For the moment, the trial site only features the glow-in-the-dark road markings along the highway edges.

The new roads aim to improve safety and cut energy use from road lighting.  Speaking to the BBC last year about his plans Roosegaarde said: "The government is shutting down streetlights at night to save money, energy is becoming much more important than we could have imagined 50 years ago. This road is about safety and envisaging a more self-sustainable and more interactive world."

One Netherlands news report said, "It looks like you are driving through a fairytale, which pretty much sums up this extraordinary project. The design studio likes to bring technology and design to the real world, with practical and beautiful results.”

According to a report in Dutch News, Heijmans wants to expand the project but has not yet secured any further contracts. There is also no information on how the paint holds up against wear and tear in use.

Related Content

  • British Columbia's highway corridors show it’s good to share
    June 6, 2025
    The Canadian province is advocating harmony along its major roads, setting aside major funding for projects to allow vehicles and other modes to operate safely side by side, reports David Arminas
  • Managed motorways, hard shoulder running aids safety, saves time
    January 30, 2012
    The announcement that, in 2012/13, work to extend Managed Motorways to Junctions 5-8 of the M6 near Birmingham in the West Midlands is scheduled to start marks the next step for the UK's hard shoulder running concept, first introduced on the M42 in 2006. The M6 scheme is in fact one of several announced; over the next few years work will start on applying Managed Motorways to various sections of the M1, M25 London Orbital, M60 and M62. According to Paul Unwin, senior project manager with the Highways Agency
  • HERMES Study provides guidance for forward ITS thinking in Finland
    August 25, 2016
    Having authored HERMES, a major study for the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication, Josef Czako talks to ITS International about his findings and lessons for other authorities. When CEOs of major automakers are predicting more change in the next five years than in the past 50, what is the role of national authorities considering the benefits of innovations in ITS?
  • Daimler’s double take sees machine vision move in-vehicle
    December 13, 2013
    Jason Barnes looks at Daimler’s Intelligent Drive programme to consider how machine vision has advanced the state of the art of vision-based in-vehicle systems. Traditionally, radar was the in-vehicle Driver Assistance System (DAS) technology of choice, particularly for applications such as adaptive cruise control and pre-crash warning generation. Although vision-based technology has made greater inroads more recently, it is not a case of ‘one sensor wins’. Radar and vision are complementary and redundancy