... and I've no idea if it has any legal implications with regards to what I can do.

Here's one situation where they've used it:

Single carriageway road with a hashed area in the middle, with broken white lines. All of the middle of the road (where the hashes are) is now bright red tarmac instead of black. The lines remain broken.

Hope I've made it clear. Let me know if you need clarification of what the road looks like.

There's plenty of that near me too. It does seem pretty random at times plus it doesn't wear as well as the black stuff so has already started to look patchy.

... and I've no idea if it has any legal implications with regards to what I can do.

Here's one situation where they've used it:

Single carriageway road with a hashed area in the middle, with broken white lines. All of the middle of the road (where the hashes are) is now bright red tarmac instead of black. The lines remain broken.

Hope I've made it clear. Let me know if you need clarification of what the road looks like.

If my understanding is correct, it's the paint markings on the road which dictate what you can do and the tarmac colour is designed to draw attention to something or mess with your mind and make you think your lane is narrower, eg at speed limit gateways.

So, you can enter the hashed are, provided it's safe and the red tarmac doesn't have teflon properties

Chris

I live in herts as well, The tarmac colour is just a loose stone covering, they used the red tarmac a lot in stevenage and the its nearly all gone now, as water and salt get underneath and it breaks up.

Herefordshire <> Hertfordshire

its not anti skid surface is it?

No the anti-skid surface they use around here is yellow in colour It is literally just red tarmac. It grips the same from my experience.

No the anti-skid surface they use around here is yellow in colour It is literally just red tarmac. It grips the same from my experience.

Yep the anti-skid stuff (aka Shellgrip) is mostly yellow/concrete coloured.

Chris

Outside my house they spent good money covering all the cycle lane in green tarmac, only to resurface the entire road a couple of months later!

As mentioned the red colour is applied to highlight an area from a distance. Used to good effect on the A92 between Fife and dundee. Couple of long straights but with junctions that arnt seen that easily. The red areas are seen for a good distance and help to decide on whether to overtake or not.

steve

What are you lot on about!?

You can get tarmac with red stone or black stone, but the red is not very vibrant at all, and is normally used in conservation type areas.

You can get anti-skid (resin & sand basically) which is a high friction material in any colour you like. Commonly black or buff in braking zones, sometimes we use red or green anti-skid for cycleways etc too.

You also get coloured surfacings which are essentially thermoplastic (just like white lines etc) which is commonly used in central reservations to highlight hatched areas, to visually narrow the road at gateways etc.

Both anti-skid and thermoplastic materials are highly durable, but when laid in cold or damp conditions it can scab off and look tatty pretty quickly.

If you have any specific queries let me know, photos may help...

Tom (resident Traffic Engineer )

Does this mean we will be seeing a lot of "Red Ice" this year?