Glowing highway unveiled in the Netherlands

 

 

Back in 2012, a collaborative concept by Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure imagined a smarter highway complete with glow-in-the-dark roads, interactive lighting and an induction priority lane for electric vehicles.

Two years later, the smart highway of the future is finally being put to the test, at least in part.

The BBC reports that a 1,640-foot stretch of highway in the Netherlands is being equipped with road markings that can glow in the dark. The design includes road markings with "dynamic paint" that has a "special foto-luminising powder" that charges during sunlight hours and lets off light at night.

What's the point? The designers say that having glow-in-the-dark roads saves on energy and infrastructure costs because extra lighting infrastructure is unnecessary. 

Here's what it looks like.

This initial addition to the highway is a test and that the official launch of the project is expected to happen next month. 

Here's another look at the original concept:

 

Correction: A previous version of this article said the markings were along a 310-mile stretch. It is actually 1,640 feet. A huge difference. Apologies for the confusion.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com