Utah’s lane markings often disappear during snowy weather. UDOT aims to improve them.

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The paint on Utah’s roads has a reputation for vanishing in stormy weather — a habit that has prompted memes, TikTok posts and tweets.

That may soon come to an end, as the Utah Department of Transportation implements new reflective lane markings.

Utahns have mocked the state’s road markings whenever it rains or snows, because they are often not visible in bad weather — causing confusion on where a lane begins and ends, or the boundaries of a parking spot. The markings’ visibility issue is likely due to a combination of increased road traffic, severe weather and wear-and-tear, said UDOT spokesperson Mitch Shaw.

“Rain can make some areas harder to see, but that typically happens when the paint starts to get a little old and starts to fade a little bit — that makes it much worse,” Shaw said. “It takes basically constant maintenance, we’re finding. ... When paint starts to wear down, that’s when it starts to lose visibility.”

[More: Here’s how Utah drivers can be safe in winter conditions – and which roads are most dangerous in snow.]

Shaw said Utah’s rapid population growth is a contributor to wearing down the road reflectivity, along with the changes in weather. The state goes from hot, dry summers to frigid, icy winters — and these extreme changes cause the road paint to need more maintenance than in states with more consistent climates.

Treatments during the winter — like salting roads and plowing snow — also contribute to the breakdown of reflective markings, Shaw said. But UDOT is implementing improved reflective technology to withstand these conditions, including a type of road paint with tiny reflective beads and a type of reflective tape that’s ground into road pavement.

UDOT workers are applying this new technology during construction in road projects across the state. The department just finished adding more reflective striping on I-15 while they added an expressway in Davis and Weber counties, between the Layton Parkway exit and the Riverdale Road exit.

“We’re hoping that’ll last longer, so we won’t have to do as much maintenance and people will be able to see the markings for longer,” Shaw said. “Drivers will start seeing this across all of our major roadways. This is something that we’ve found that works.”