Durable glass bulb reflectors increase traffic safety

Based on its mission to actively contribute to traffic safety in the Netherlands and beyond, Van Wylick Wegdekreflectoren offers various powerful, sustainable solutions. Like the glass bulb reflector, an invention with which it all started in 1993 for the company operating from Sint-Michielsgestel. This cost-saving, maintenance-free and virtually indestructible product can be used very widely. For example, as a better and safer alternative to the many thousands of vulnerable roadside reflector poles that are placed along numerous roads in our country.

Van Wylick Wegdekreflectoren BV was founded over 30 years ago by Chris van Wylick, who introduced the glass bulb reflector to the market. Since January 1, 2024, daughter Lisette has been in charge. It is up to her to market the family company's product range. "In addition to glass bulb reflectors, this includes solar LED reflectors and marker studs," she says. "Specialties of the house that we supply including installation. In the case of the glass bulb reflectors, this involves using the Lux." This assembly truck (awarded the Cobouw Publieksprijs in 2015) not only ensures fast and efficient installation in the asphalt, thanks to the available sweeping/suction system, the work is also carried out super-clean. Added to the many product advantages, it is therefore not surprising that Van Wylick's glass bulb reflectors are increasingly being used by municipalities and provinces to sustainably and cost-effectively increase traffic safety. 

Texel

So too by the Municipality of Texel, which recently purchased the first 550 sustainable glass bulb reflectors from Van Wylick for the island's outer roads. Henri Bijkerk, who has been turning the road management knobs for the municipality as area manager for roads for about a year, was the driving force behind that decision. The choice for this solution has its basis in the findings he gained at his previous employer, the province of Overijssel, where Henri contributed to the application of reflective glass balls on all provincial roads. "Through thorough practical research, which included road user behavior and opinion, we were able to demonstrate that the installation of tens of thousands of roadside reflector poles and hundreds of light poles could henceforth be dispensed with by opting for glass bulb reflectors," he says. "As a result, almost all N roads and some highways in the province have been fitted with the Lux 3 and now also the Lux 7, the latest Van Wylick variant."

Replacement

The research results obtained in Overijssel are also applicable to the outer roads of Texel. A place where darkness is cherished as a quality and where, as a result, public lighting is used very sparingly. "With the disappearance of public lighting in the outlying area about 10 years ago, some of the intersections were marked with active LED units in the road surface to guide traffic on the island," Henri explains. "In corners where there are currently reflector posts on the shoulder, we will supplement them with glass bulb reflectors. In addition, if it is traffic-safe to do so, we will start using them as complete replacements for the hundreds of bollards that break down every year due to mowing, get flattened or perish due to vandalism."

Advantages

Recently, the first 550 glass bulb reflectors to replace a large number of reflector posts were installed on three Texel roads. The initial findings are positive. "In April 2025 we are going to evaluate the application by asking road users their opinion," says Henri. "If that all turns out well, we will probably start equipping all locations where there are currently reflector posts in curves with the reflective glass balls." With the primary goal, of course, being to increase traffic safety. The glass bulbs not only make the road surface more visible, research has also shown that too many roadside bollards actually cause road users to not reduce speed sufficiently and exceed the speed limit more often. In addition, the number of unsightly obstacles in the landscape decreases and roadside mowing can be done more easily in the future. Finally, there are the necessary financial gains. For example, a glass bulb reflector lasts as long as an asphalt overlay and, compared to reflector plates, they require little or no replacement. "Meanwhile, Van Wylick's glass bulbs have already amply proven themselves in many places in the Netherlands," Henri concludes. "The same is expected to happen on Texel."