Graffiti drone pilot program takes flight

By April Leigh & Tina Werner

Graffiti-battling drones. It almost sounds like something you'd see in a sci-fi movie. They could be coming soon to a bridge or overpass near you.

Our Tacoma area maintenance crew, led by Mike Gauger, is testing drone technology that can remove graffiti from hard-to-reach places. The team is learning how these drones operate, how they apply paint and if they can cover graffiti.

The drone, built from an Aquiline Endure model, uses a spray nozzle and is linked to a paint supply on the ground.

A prototype drone test sprays paint to cover up graffiti in Tacoma earlier this spring

An operator on the ground can position the drone anywhere the tethered hose can reach. This could - make quick work of painting over graffiti on tall retaining walls, bridges and overpasses.

The problem

Graffiti damages state property. It also is a challenge for our maintenance crews to address. More importantly, it puts the people who participate in the activity and our own crews at risk. Under Washington state law, graffiti is illegal.

Tall bridges and overpasses are targets for graffiti and difficult for crews to clean up

Graffiti removal is part of our maintenance program. The same program patches potholes, repairs guardrail and culverts, and handles snow and ice response. In 2023, our maintenance crews spent over $815,000 on graffiti removal statewide (including staff time and equipment). That's nearly 10,300 hours of labor spent covering 700,000 square feet of graffiti along our highways. But that's still not enough to remove all the graffiti that appears along our highways.

Our crews report seeing new graffiti appear sometimes days or even hours after an area is cleaned.

An inventive idea

Mike remembers the exact day two years ago he got the idea for a graffiti-fighting drone.

For the second time in one week, Mike had to send a maintenance team to paint over graffiti on the Capital Boulevard Bridge in Olympia. Our crews prioritize the removal of graffiti that contains offensive or obscene images or profanity because it is distracting to drivers.

Mike knew the graffiti had to be removed, but it was frustrating to pull a bridge maintenance crew from another task. Plus, there's an equipment challenge. Specialized trucks, called UBITs, are needed for hard-to-reach graffiti. These trucks are in high demand, and we have six of them to cover the state. They are usually reserved for higher-priority bridge maintenance and inspection work.

After scheduling the work, he thought to himself, there must be a better way to get paint up there.

Crews at the State Route 16 Tacoma Narrows Bridge using drones equipped with high resolution cameras to complete inspections last fall

Then, he had a lightbulb moment. He was working with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge team using drones for bridge inspections. The drones, equipped with high resolution cameras, were decreasing the number of times crews had to physically inspect underneath the girders. That meant improved employee safety, less time on the inspection and overall cost savings.

If drones could be used for inspections, why couldn't they be used to spray paint?

Bringing it to life

Mike brought the idea to our maintenance director, who suggested a grant for a pilot program to research the idea.

Mike researched the use of drones with several manufacturers who produced similar products, and learned that there were no drones being designed to do things like this. He reached out to some drone manufacturers and found one that was willing to collaborate on the design of a prototype system.

Mike flying a test drone during research and design last fall

The team worked together on the design for months. Their first attempt malfunctioned in early testing, which gave them the information they needed to make adjustments. A final working prototype was delivered in spring of 2024.

We are the first transportation agency to pilot the use of drones to combat graffiti.

House Bill 1989

In 2024, the Washinton legislature passed House Bill 1989. The bill provides us $1 million to research traffic camera technology for monitoring graffiti removal. A small portion of the funding will cover crew labor and paint for prototype drone testing for the rest of the year.

We are in the preliminary phase of identifying and researching implementation of the bill.

In December 2024, we will submit a report to the Legislature about the facts and findings of the pilot program for further evaluation. Again, this is only a pilot program, so it will be a while before we know if this is technology that we will implement in the long-term.

Field testing

To the best of our knowledge, the prototype graffiti drone is the only one of its kind. We've used drones before in other capacities like bridge inspections and disaster response (flooding, landslides, etc.), but use for graffiti removal is new.

Our highway maintenance employees with Part 107 drone licenses are being trained to operate the drone. Mike and his crew will spend the rest of the year field testing the prototype drone in the Tacoma and Olympia area.

Legally, drones cannot be flown over active lanes of traffic, so the areas we are treating will be in closed work zones or managed with rolling slowdown closures while the drones are in use.

As they field test the drone, the team expects to make further improvements to the system.

This pilot program won't end highway graffiti – it's a constant struggle for our crews and law enforcement to address – but it's another tool in our toolbox. We are excited to continue exploring new technologies to keep our crews safer and make them more efficient.

Traffic Management Attenuators: The unsung hero of work zones

By Cara Mitchell

One sunny November morning in 2022, Traffic Control Supervisor Rummel Aguinaldo was part of a team applying lane markings on State Route 516 in Kent. To apply lane markings, crews form a caravan of trucks with flashing lights. These trucks move slowly down a section of highway to apply the lane markings.

The crew had two Traffic Management Attenuators, also known as TMAs, behind the caravan of work trucks. So, what exactly is a TMA or more specifically an attenuator? In a nutshell, it's a safety cushion mounted on the back of a truck. Highway construction crews use TMAs in their traffic control plan because they are designed to absorb the energy of a collision if someone drives into it. The TMA also reduces damage and redirects traffic away from people in work areas.

On this particular morning, the TMA did what it was designed to do: protect the crew. Despite having advanced warning signs almost 1,500 feet away, a driver crashed into the back of the TMA. In the moments following the collision, the crew's safety training kicked in. Crew members made sure people were safe, vehicles were stopped to prevent another collision from occurring and a call to 911 was made for emergency responders.

Damage to a contractor TMA following a collision on SR 516 in 2022

Rummel works for Advanced Government Services, a private company that provides traffic control and safety plans for contractors and local governments. He has been part of work zone crews throughout western Washington and Oregon. The most common mistake he sees drivers make in work zones is using their cell phone.

"People are on their cell phone either holding their phone to their ear or texting, which is definitely a huge distraction because they aren't paying attention while driving."

Distracted or inattentive driving is one of the top three leading causes of work zone crashes on highways.

In 2023, there were 231 distracted driver or inattentive citations issued in state roadway work zone crashes.

Just like Rummel, our crews say they regularly see drivers looking at phones, texting, watching shows or using other devices while blowing past signs about slowing down or stopping – which puts everyone on the road at risk.

First responders at collision scene on SR 516 in Kent

State law makes driving under the influence of electronics (E-DUI) illegal and expensive.

• First E-DUI ticket - $136
• Second E-DUI ticket in 5 years - $234
• All E-DUI tickets are reported to insurance companies and could lead to higher rates
• Other forms of distracted driving (not involving electronic devices) bring a $99 ticket

We need your help

While we are grateful there are TMAs in our work zones, we also need all drivers to put down their phones and pay attention, especially when driving through work zones. Road crews are there to help keep all travelers safe.

Employees in work zones are spouses, parents, children, siblings and friends – and they all deserve to go home safe at the end of their shift. They aren't nameless or faceless; and they deserve our respect and extra attention.

We ask all drivers in work zones to:

• Slow Down – drive the posted speeds, they're there for your safety
• Be Kind – our workers are helping to keep you safe and improve the roadways
• Pay Attention – both to workers directing you and surrounding traffic
• Stay Calm – expect delays, leave early or take an alternate route if possible; no meeting or appointment is worth risking someone's life

Projects on northbound I-5 and SR 529 in Everett coordinating schedules to keep traveler options open

By Tom Pearce

We have a lot of work happening in Everett right now on both I-5 and SR 529. We’re working to make it as easy as we can on travelers by keeping the closures on separate days.

Both projects have significant northbound lane reductions.

• Our I-5 Marine View Drive project between Everett and Marysville reduces the northbound freeway to one lane. If the weather cooperates, we’ll do that the weekend of May 3-6. If weather is bad, it will be postponed until May 10-13.
• The SR 529 project reduces the northbound bridge to a single lane starting Monday, May 6, lasting about three weeks before the full northbound SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge closure starts Tuesday, May 28. That full closure will last about 4 months.

The northbound Snohomish River Bridge will be reduced to one lane starting May 6,
then fully close for four months on May 28.

The northbound Snohomish River Bridge will be reduced to one lane starting May 6, then fully close for four months on May 28.

Note that if weather requires us to work on I-5 on May 10-13, that means both I-5 and SR 529 will be reduced to one lane at the same time. We did look at scheduling the northbound I-5 closure in April, but with the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in full swing, there’s too much additional traffic to do that.

So we’re doing our best to keep these two closures from overlapping, and we want to complete work on both as soon as possible. Each will benefit people who travel through the area.

More HOV lane, new freeway ramps

The work on I-5 is one of our major projects, which will:

• Extend the HOV lane from downtown Everett to SR 529.
• Complete the I-5/SR 529 interchange by adding a northbound I-5 off-ramp to SR 529 and a southbound on-ramp from SR 529 to southbound I-5.
• Build a permanent median barrier between the northbound and southbound lanes.

The new median barrier is in place; the HOV extension and ramps will open in summer or fall 2025.

In addition to extending the HOV lane from Everett to SR 529, this project will add an off-ramp from northbound I-5 to SR 529 and an on-ramp from SR 529 to southbound I-5.

In addition to extending the HOV lane from Everett to SR 529, this project will add an off-ramp from northbound I-5 to SR 529 and an on-ramp from SR 529 to southbound I-5.

While northbound I-5 is reduced to one lane for a weekend, our contractor will replace asphalt pavement with concrete in a section between 41st Street and the Marine View Drive. It takes all weekend to remove the asphalt, then pour the concrete and let it harden.

Preserving a 97-year-old bridge

The northbound SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge was built in 1927. We need to repaint the bridge as well as make steel and mechanical repairs.

Part of the work on the northbound SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge includes removing the old paint and rust, the adding a new coat of paint.

Part of the work on the northbound SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge includes removing
the old paint and rust, the adding a new coat of paint.

Some of the work can be done with one northbound lane open, so that southbound isn’t affected. But once the paint containment system is in place we can’t move the bridge to raise or lower it. However, we also are required by the Coast Guard to keep that section of the Snohomish River open to large boats. That means we need to keep the bridge raised for the entire four months of this vital preservation work.

Each of these projects will help preserve our highways and bridges. Some short-term inconvenience will provide long-term benefits. We appreciate your patience.

Road Warrior trucks help keep our crews safe – but we need your help too

By Elizabeth Mount

Two damaged Road Warriors are next to each other in the maintenance yard after
back-to-back work zone collisions on I-5 last year

Nick Bumgarner uses a lot of tools and experience when planning to keep everyone safe during roadwork. One of the most important – and most impressively named – is the Road Warrior.

Nick is our night crew supervisor in Mount Vernon and has worked with us for 6 years. He knows work zone dangers all too well: In the last year his crew experienced four work zone collisions – two on consecutive nights. Before those four collisions, Nick says since he had been in Mount Vernon there hadn't been any crashes – so it was a frightening series of wake-up calls for the entire crew.

Thankfully no one was seriously injured in the crashes, in large part due to the Road Warriors on the scene. But we can't rely on this protection – we also need drivers to do their part to help keep our crews safe.

So, what is a Road Warrior?

A Road Warrior is one of the key pieces of equipment our crews rely on to protect them in work zones, the yellow section on the end of the truck absorbs crash impact and protects crews up ahead.

It's not a worker – though our crews certainly face tough challenges. A Road Warrior is a piece of equipment that helps protect our workers when a vehicle doesn't move over and crashes into a work zone.

Officially called a truck-mounted attenuator, a Road Warrior is a big truck with a large, accordion-like shock absorber on the back. When someone crashes into a Road Warrior, the attenuator absorbs the energy from the crash, lessening the impact and protecting the crews up ahead.

Most work zones have two Road Warriors – one that sets up and takes down cones and barrels and is the last line of defense for our crew doing the work, and a second Road Warrior to protect the first one and warn drivers. Both Road Warriors play a vital role in protecting our workers. If a vehicle hits the Road Warrior, typically the damage and injuries are less severe.

Nick's crew is thankful his team had their Road Warrior out on the nights their work zone was crashed into. Without that piece of equipment who knows what would have happened to our workers?

Four crashes, one crew

The damage to a Road Warrior from one of the collisions was severe. Thankfully, the attenuator did its job by protecting our crew from being seriously injured. 

Traffic control plans, including advanced warning signs and flashing lights, were in place for each of the four crashes Nick's crew experienced on Interstate 5 last fall and winter. But no plan eliminates all danger – especially with the concerning and erratic driver behavior we've seen in recent years.

In the first crash a driver who said they were falling sleep slammed into the Road Warrior protecting crews clearing drains with a vactor truck, which is essentially a big vacuum.

In the second – the very next night – a driver was on their phone and distracted as they approached the work zone, again striking the Road Warrior as crews finished up work from the evening before.

In the third incident, Nick's crew was sweeping debris and dirt from the median when an erratic driver barreled through the work zone, collided with one of the attenuators and then fled the scene. Washington State Patrol was unable to locate the driver.

The fourth crash, just a few months ago, was while the crew was doing routine maintenance work along the interstate. A driver struck one of the Road Warriors and then kept on driving, though they were later stopped by Washington State Patrol.

In each case the crew had all the required markers, signs and flashing lights giving drivers advanced notice of a crew up ahead. The traffic control plan was reviewed after every crash for any gaps – but each time the review found that every part of the meticulous safety plan had been followed.

The crew was understandably rattled after each crash but they also credit the Road Warrior with saving their lives and preventing serious injuries.

We need your help

Nick has a wife and a young son. Our crews all have families they want to get home to at the end of the day.

Our work zone traffic control plans start with us and end with you – and even Road Warriors can't protect everyone.

Nick's crew doesn't need any more crashes to deal with, they'd rather focus on repairing the road and ensuring everyone makes it home safe at the end of the day. They need your help to do that.

Whenever you're approaching a work zone or see orange cones and vests, we ask you to slow down, stay calm, pay attention and be kind.

Please do your part to keep the road safe; it's a matter of life and death.