Assessing Cool Corridor Heat Resilience Strategies for Human-Scale Transportation

Road pavement is a known contributor to the urban heat island effect. Several vendors are providing engineered pavements coatings—known as “cool pavement”—to reflect light and, therefore, reflect heat to reduce the thermal load of roads. Few of these cool pavements have been evaluated outside lab conditions, where they tend to rely heavily on surface temperature measurements with the assumption that lower surface temperatures result in lower ambient air temperatures in real-world practice. Further, while heat is detrimental to the pedestrian and cyclist experience and health, almost no research exists documenting the experience of the cool pavement on active travelers, including their perception of heat. The City of Tucson conducted a pilot application of the PlusTi asphalt rejuvenator, a cool pavement product, in 2021 as a part of its Parks and Connections Bond work. The authors conducted a before-after, case-control quasi-experimental design to evaluate the impacts of the cool pavement product on heat metrics, including surface temperatures (TS) of the pavement, ambient air temperatures (TA) of the area, and thermal comfort as measured by wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). The study design did not allow the authors to test for before-and-after treatment differences in TS, as other factors likely contributed to observed differences. Once autocorrelation is accounted for, the authors estimated the PlusTi pavement rejuvenator resulted in 0.3°F less TA observed and no statistical difference measured in WBGT.

• Record URL:
  • https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/NITC-RR-1483_Assessing_Cool_Corridor_Heat_Resilience_Strategies_for_Human-Scale_Transportation.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1483
• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/73298
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Arizona

  ,    

  National Institute for Transportation and Communities

  Portland State University
  P.O. Box 751
  Portland, OR  United States  97207

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Iroz-Elardo, Nicole
  • 0000-0003-1680-4516
  • Keith, Ladd
  • 0000-0002-5549-0372
  • Currans, Kristi M
  • Avila, Ashley
  • Heath, Lauren
  • Little, Brenden J
  • Wissler, Ethan C
  • Birkelbach, Andrew J
• Publication Date: 2024-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 47p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Atmospheric temperature; Before and after studies; Coatings; Pavements; Rejuvenators; Thermal analysis
• Geographic Terms: Tucson (Arizona)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01907824
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NITC-RR-1483
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747112
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 12 2024 10:31AM