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Plastic glare shields: What they do and how much they cost to repair

Those green plastic-looking things on the roadways are looking a little rough lately.

CLEVELAND — You've probably seen the green plastic-looking things on top of concrete barriers on the highway. 

They're called plastic glare shields -- and some of us here have noticed, they're looking a little rough lately.

If you've seen more of these broken on the side of the road this winter… there's an explanation.

3News' Brandon Simmons visited ODOT officials Thursday to find out why they're there, why they take such a beating -- and how much it'll cost to fix them.

The glare shields have been knocked off of the highway medians by the snow coming off the plows of ODOT trucks trying to keep highways clear.

But why are they there in the first place? The glare shields are added to portions of highway with shorter medians and are designed to block the glare and brightness of headlights from traffic headed in the opposite direction.

Repairing them is necessary for driver safety something and something ODOT does whenever the weather is warm enough. The bulk of the repairs will likely take place this spring.

And if you're worried about what it costs for ODOT to do this year after year. It's built into the budget. And each glare shield is only $4.16 -- Not bad.

But be careful, just in case some of these fallen glare shields end up in the roadway.

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