daan roosegaarde's glow-in-the-dark smart highway opens in the netherlands

daan roosegaarde’s glow-in-the-dark smart highway opens in the netherlands
all images courtesy INDEX

dutch designer daan roosegaarde’s ‘smart highway’ opened the first stretch of the glow-in-the-dark road on highway n329 near the city of oss in the netherlands. the project has been implemented on a 500 meter stretch of an ordinary highway, the first step towards completing roosegaarde’s vision of intelligent streets across the country. ‘glowing lines is just the first step,’ says roosegaarde. ‘we have shown that we have the guts to take on a project of this magnitude. and that is the most important thing when it comes to innovation: having the guts to actually begin to implement an idea like this.’ the paint for ‘glowing lines’ was developed by construction group heijmans to absorb light during the day. at night, it glows for up to eight hours, showing motorists where the edge of the road is and other key markings.

 the smart highway is dubbed as the world’s first glow-in-the-dark road

daan roosegaarde (left) gathers with hundreds of guests for the project’s unveiling

 dutch minister for infrastructure and the environment, melanie schultz van haegen

the paint absorbs light during the day, and at night, it glows for up to eight hours

render of daan roosegaarde’s proposal for the smart highway