Street Beat for Jan. 23

Q: I have noticed that the construction on the overpasses on Interstate 95 has come to a stop. I still see steel beams sticking out of the Lombardy Street bridge. What's the deal with these projects?

Also, when striping is done on the interstates, who determines if it's regular paint or reflective paint? I have noticed that the newly repaved sections have reflective paint (except the newly repaved section of state Route 288, someone ran out of reflective paint) but the old sections still have regular paint. — Charles S.

A: The work hasn't stopped. You just don't see it.

(Sadly, I can never get away with telling my boss that.)

The Virginia Department of Transportation is restoring 11 bridges along I-95. Workers have been busy restoring the areas under each of the bridges, said VDOT's Dawn Eischen.

"The substructure repairs need to be done before the new beams and concrete deck (called superstructure) can be installed. The contractor is also working off-site at their casting yard in Mechanicsville. This is where they fabricate each superstructure.

"When they are ready to replace another superstructure, they will cut out the existing bridge sections and haul in new sections from the casting yard. They did this to one span of the Laburnum Avenue bridge on I-95 south in October. They plan to do this again in late February or March with the second span of the I-95 south bridge at Laburnum Avenue. The project is still on schedule for a fall 2014 completion."

As for pavement markings, they are all reflective, Eischen said. But "the level of reflectivity can vary depending on the types of markings used. Also, some markings can fade over time.

"When refreshing markings on an existing roadway, our striping crews often use latex paint," she said. On the newly paved section of Route 288, VDOT used thermoplastic markings, a liquid material that is more reflective than latex paint. The existing sections of Route 288 have latex markings, which would explain why they differ from the newly paved section.

But the brightest type is tape. "It is used on newly paved interstates, but it's expensive, and the manufacturer's warranty prohibits us from using it on old pavement."

Q: I am extremely pleased at the new interchange at Meadowville Road on Interstate 295, although I have a concern over the traffic light vehicle recognition while attempting to enter the northbound interchange. I come from the state Route 10 (Rivers Bend Boulevard) area, and the light fails to recognize one of my vehicles, a 2001 Dodge Durango. My other vehicle, a 2006 Volvo, is recognized within 10 seconds on each instance I have driven that route, while my Durango has failed to trip the light at least 10 times. It has never recognized that vehicle. What can be done to update the vehicle recognition, as the commute is much nicer with the new interchange? — Kevin M.

A: You could always drive the Volvo. Case closed.

Just kidding.

This sounds like a problem with the traffic sensors that are supposed to detect vehicles. These sensors, usually buried in the pavement, sometimes need to be adjusted, so I contacted VDOT.

"VDOT is always happy to hear when a driver is pleased with road improvements that we've made," said Sundra Hominik.

"We are aware of the issue with the detectors at the new interchange and are working to correct it. We hope your reader continues to enjoy his commute."

Q: In the Jan. 16 Street Beat you said "the owner should check the battery" in the bumper-mounted E-ZPass transponder. How does one do this since it is a sealed unit? — Paul M.

A: Case closed.

The case that contains the E-ZPass transponder, that is.

But the Richmond Metropolitan Authority has a transponder battery tester, said Linda McElroy. "It is available at the E-ZPass Service Center on Wadsworth Drive in Chesterfield County and the E-ZPass Valet at our Expressway Parking Deck downtown on Canal Street. We have an additional tester that we can move from facility to facility."

If you have had your E-ZPass transponder for a long time, it might be a good idea to have it checked. They can die without warning, which is embarrassing, to say the least, when you are in line.