TxDOT Item 662 Work Zone Pavement Markings: Bid Code Spec, Pricing and Removal Obligations
Item 662 pays for temporary striping, the markings that carry traffic through a work zone until the permanent ones go down. The payment article opens by saying the price covers furnishing, placing, maintaining, and removing them, which reads like every stripe you put down is yours to take out at no extra charge. Then the next paragraph splits that in half. Removal is bundled on removable and short-term markings. Eliminating a nonremovable one is paid under Item 677. Here are the 7 bid codes that show up most in recent TxDOT lettings, what separates one tier from the next, and why work zone striping prices well below the permanent version of the same line.
TxDOT Item 662 Bid Code Variants: What Determines Pricing
The codes below sort into three tiers, and the spec draws the lines by what material you're allowed to use:
"Use hot-applied thermoplastic, paint and beads, or permanent prefabricated pavement markings for nonremovable markings."
"Use RPMs, traffic buttons, removable prefabricated pavement markings, temporary flexible reflective roadway marker tabs, or other approved materials for removable and short-term markings. Do not use hot-applied thermoplastic, multipolymer pavement markings, or traffic paint for removable markings."
Four things decide what you're pricing:
- Which tier. Nonremovable, removable, or short-term. These aren't grades of the same product, they're different material families with a prohibition between them. You can't satisfy a removable code with thermoplastic, and the pricing gap below shows what that restriction is worth.
- Width and shape. Six inch and 24 inch solid lines show up here, plus tab codes priced by each. Measurement follows suit:
"This Item will be measured by the foot or each word, shape, symbol, or temporary flexible reflective roadway marker tab. Each stripe will be measured separately."
Each stripe separately, so a double centerline is two measured lines. And if you use RPMs to simulate a longitudinal marking, the spec lets that be measured by the foot of marking or by each RPM, which is a basis question to settle before takeoff rather than after.
- Color. White and yellow both appear. On the nonremovable codes they price identically in this data.
- The tab type designation. The two short-term codes read TY W and TY Y-2. Those are different type designations, not just different colors, and the Item 662 spec doesn't define them, it points to DMS-8242. Confirm what the designation means against that spec before pricing one off the other.
Item 662 is also a plans quantity item, same as Item 666.
One naming note. Clarement says bid item throughout. TxDOT's own contracts and this spec say pay item, so both point at the same thing and people search both.
TxDOT Item 662 Pricing: Key Takeaways
- Removal is in the price on removable and short-term markings only. Eliminating a nonremovable work zone marking is paid under Item 677.
- Removable 6-inch line prices about three times its nonremovable equivalent. The material restriction is the whole reason.
- Work zone thermoplastic is a 60 mil minimum, where permanent Item 666 work is 100 mils for new markings. Thinner stripe, lower price.
- You maintain the markings for 30 days, and a deficiency found inside that window still has to be fixed after the window closes.
- The visibility standard is a driving test, not a meter. 320 ft. in daylight, 160 ft. at night under low beams.
- Short-term markings out of alignment come out at your expense, and standard markings have to follow within 14 calendar days.
Cost Factors for TxDOT Item 662 Work Zone Pavement Markings
Cost Factors That Vary by Bid Code
Which material family the tier allows. A nonremovable code lets you run thermoplastic or paint and beads, the same production striping you'd do on permanent work. A removable code takes those off the table entirely and pushes you to removable prefabricated markings, RPMs, buttons, or tabs. Different material, different application method, different crew. That restriction is the single biggest price driver in this item.
Width, and it doesn't scale in a straight line. A 24-inch nonremovable line prices roughly 15 times a 6-inch one in this data, for four times the width. Same shape as the width curve on Item 666, where the jump past 8 inches is where single-pass application stops.
Whether the code is a line or a tab. Tabs are counted, lines are measured by the foot. Don't put those two numbers side by side.
Cost Factors That Apply to Every TxDOT Item 662 Bid Code
Thickness minimums, and they're lower than permanent work.
"Apply thermoplastic markings to a minimum thickness of 0.060 in. (60 mils). When paint and beads are allowed, apply to a minimum dry thickness of 0.012 in. (12 mils)."
Sixty mils against the 100 mils Item 666 requires for new permanent markings. That's the reason work zone striping prices below permanent striping, and the pricing analysis shows how closely the two line up.
Two timing windows, one on each side.
"When short-term markings are allowed for opening to traffic, place standard longitudinal markings no later than 14 calendar days after the placement of the surface."
"Place standard longitudinal markings no sooner than 3 calendar days after the placement of a surface treatment, unless otherwise shown on the plans."
So on a surface treatment you wait at least 3 days and you're done within 14. That's a return trip scheduled by the spec, not by your crew's convenience. Inclement weather can extend the 14 days, but nothing shortens the 3.
Traffic control runs until the markings are in. The spec requires maintaining lane alignment traffic control devices and operations until markings are installed. If your markings slip, your traffic control cost keeps running.
Alignment is to the TMUTCD, and short-term misalignment is free rework.
"Place short-term markings in proper alignment with the location of the final pavement markings. Remove and replace short-term markings not in alignment at the Contractor's expense."
RPM substitution has rules. Using RPMs to simulate longitudinal markings is your option on removable placements. Lines wider than 4 inches need side-by-side RPMs. And RPMs are not allowed for words, symbols, shapes, or diagonal or transverse lines. If you were planning to cover a whole removable scope with markers, that last sentence is where it stops.
TxDOT Item 662 Payment Terms: Subsidiary Work vs. Separately Paid Items
Start with the sentence that sets the expectation:
"This price is full compensation for furnishing, placing, maintaining, and removing work zone pavement markings and for materials, equipment, labor, tools, and incidentals."
Furnishing, placing, maintaining, and removing. Read on its own, that says the whole life of the marking is in your unit price, installation through takeout.
Then the next paragraph splits it:
"Elimination of nonremovable markings will be paid for under Item 677. Removal of short-term and removable markings will not be paid for directly, but will be subsidiary to this Item."
Two different answers depending on which tier you placed:
- Removable and short-term markings. Removal is subsidiary. You take them out on the price you already bid.
- Nonremovable markings. Elimination is paid under Item 677, at Item 677 rates, on Item 677 quantities.
This is the one to get straight, because both errors cost money in opposite directions. Price nonremovable removal into your 662 number and you've bid work that's payable elsewhere, so you're low on 662 and you've left Item 677 quantity unpriced. Assume removable markings get an Item 677 line and you'll find there's no quantity there to bill against, because the spec already put that cost in the stripe you laid down.
The construction article points the same direction, so the two articles agree:
"Remove markings that conflict with succeeding markings in accordance with Item 677, 'Eliminating Existing Pavement Markings and Markers.'"
And there's a third payment note that's easy to skim past:
"Type II work zone pavement markings (paint and beads) used as a sealer for Type I pavement markings (thermoplastic) will be paid for under this Item."
Sealer gets a different treatment in every marking item in this family. On Item 666 pavement sealer is its own bid code. On Item 668 sealing and priming sit inside the marking unit price with no line at all. Here, paint and beads used as sealer under thermoplastic gets paid under Item 662. Three items, three answers, so check the item in front of you rather than carrying a habit across from the last job.
TxDOT Item 662 Quality Gates and Placement Requirements
Item 662 carries a 30-day obligation like Item 666 and Item 672 do, but it measures compliance differently than either of them.
The visibility standard is a driving test.
"Ensure all markings are in accordance with Tex-828-B and are visible from a distance at least 320 ft. (eight skiplines) in daylight conditions and at least 160 ft. (four skiplines) in nighttime conditions when illuminated by automobile low-beam headlights. Determine visibility distances using an automobile traveling on the roadway under dry conditions."
No retroreflectometer, no mcd/m²/lx target like Item 666 carries. A car, low beams, dry pavement, and a distance you either see the line from or you don't. The skipline counts, eight and four, give you a field check anyone can run without equipment.
The maintenance period, and the clause people miss:
"Maintain the markings for 30 calendar days after installation. The end of the 30-day maintenance period does not relieve the Contractor from the performance deficiencies requiring corrective action identified during the 30-day period. Remove and replace markings at the Contractor's expense if they fail to meet the requirements of this Item during the 30-day period. The 30-calendar day performance requirement will begin again after replacement of the markings."
Two things are running here. A deficiency identified on day 29 still has to be corrected after day 30, and any replacement starts a fresh 30 days of its own. So the obligation doesn't end on a date, it ends when something holds for a full clean period.
Color and uniformity are also gates. Daytime and nighttime reflected color has to be distinctly white or yellow, and the markings have to show uniform retroreflective characteristics. A marking that's visible but reading washed-out or patchy doesn't pass.
And the placement sequence is a gate of its own. Longitudinal markings go on the pavement before opening to traffic. Short-term markings are only allowed when standard markings can't be placed before opening, and only if the plans show it or the Engineer directs it. That isn't a choice you make on the day.
Pricing Considerations for Work Zone Markings
- Price removal into the removable and short-term codes, since it's subsidiary there and has no Item 677 line to fall back on.
- Carry nonremovable elimination as Item 677 quantity, not inside your Item 662 rate.
- Price the return trip the 14-day rule forces, plus the traffic control that runs until standard markings are in.
- Carry the 30-day maintenance window as real exposure, since replacement restarts it and deficiencies found inside it survive it.
- Confirm the RPM measurement basis before takeoff if you're simulating lines with markers, since the spec allows either per foot of marking or per each RPM.
TxDOT Item 662 Bid Item Pricing Data
Weighted average unit price across TxDOT lettings over the last 24 months, both across every bid submitted and on the low, winning bid specifically. Each code links to its full pricing page, where you can see the spread by competitor, district, and quantity.
Pricing Analysis: Key Cost Comparisons Across TxDOT Item 662
A note on precision first. The sub-dollar codes are reported to the nearest dime, and four of them show the same figure in both columns. At this rounding that's a tie in the reported number, not evidence that winning bids match the average. Low-bid comparisons below stay on the three codes where the two figures actually differ.
Removable prices about three times nonremovable, for the same 6-inch solid line.
That's the material prohibition showing up as money. A nonremovable line can be thermoplastic or paint and beads, laid down by a striping truck at a production rate. A removable line can't be either of those. It has to be removable prefabricated marking, RPMs, buttons, or tabs, which is a different material and a different placement operation. Roughly a 3x step, and it's the cleanest single-variable comparison in this data.
Color moves nothing on the nonremovable codes and a little on the removable ones. White and yellow both sit at $0.30 nonremovable. Removable yellow runs $0.90 against white at $0.80, though at dime-level rounding that gap is close to the resolution of the data. Take it as a small difference, not a reliable premium.
Width climbs much faster than the width itself. The 24-inch nonremovable white line runs $4.40 against $0.30 for the 6-inch, roughly 15 times the price for four times the width. Item 666 shows the same shape on its permanent equivalents, $8.00 against $0.50, about 16 times. Both are consistent with losing single-pass application once you go wide.
Work zone striping prices at a little over half the permanent version of the same line. Against the averages published on the Item 666 guide:
The specs give a reason that lines up with those numbers. Item 662 sets a 60 mil minimum for thermoplastic. The Item 666 codes above are 100 mil codes. Sixty percent of the material, and the price lands at 55% to 60%. Two different data pulls, so treat the match as a useful sanity check rather than a formula, but it's a straightforward answer to why the work zone version of a stripe costs less than the permanent one.
The two tab codes aren't a clean comparison. TY W runs $1.40 and TY Y-2 runs $1.10, so the yellow code is lower, the opposite direction from the removable line codes. But the designations differ by more than color, and Item 662 doesn't define them, it points to DMS-8242. The low-bid gaps also diverge sharply, 21% on TY W against 45% on TY Y-2. Price the specific tab type on your plan sheet rather than reading a color premium into this pair.
Executing TxDOT Item 662: Avoiding Rework and Ensuring Payment
Same spec, laid out as things to actually do on the job.
Rework Triggers Under TxDOT Item 662
- Short-term markings placed out of alignment with the final marking locations, removed and replaced at your expense
- Markings failing the 320 ft. daylight or 160 ft. nighttime visibility distance inside the 30-day period
- Reflected color that isn't distinctly white or yellow, day or night
- Retroreflective characteristics that aren't uniform across the marking
- Thermoplastic placed under 60 mils, or paint and beads under 12 mils dry
- Hot-applied thermoplastic, multipolymer markings, or traffic paint used on a removable code
- RPMs used for words, symbols, shapes, or diagonal or transverse lines
- Standard longitudinal markings placed sooner than 3 days after a surface treatment, or later than 14 days after surface placement
- Temporary markings removed with more than minimal damage to the roadway
Field Compliance Requirements for TxDOT Item 662
- Install longitudinal markings before opening the surface to traffic
- Keep lane alignment traffic control devices and operations running until markings are installed
- Align markings per the TMUTCD and the plans
- Use side-by-side RPMs wherever you're simulating a line wider than 4 in.
- Remove short-term markings that conflict with final placement immediately before the final markings go down
- Remove the remainder of the short-term markings before final acceptance
- Furnish Type II glass beads per DMS-8290 on thermoplastic and paint and bead markings
- Run the visibility check with a car under dry conditions, daylight and low beams
Pay Application Requirements for TxDOT Item 662
- Measure each stripe separately, so a double line bills as two
- Bill nonremovable marking elimination under Item 677, not here
- Don't invoice removal of removable or short-term markings at all, it's subsidiary to this item
- Bill paint and beads used as sealer under thermoplastic under Item 662, not under Item 666
- Settle the RPM measurement basis before invoicing, per foot of marking or per each RPM
- Confirm plans quantity versus field-adjusted quantity before final pay application, since this is a plans quantity item by default
Built for people pricing and executing TxDOT work zone marking work
Frequently asked questions about TxDOT Item 662
What is TxDOT Item 662, Work Zone Pavement Markings?
The TxDOT spec for furnishing, placing, and maintaining temporary pavement markings through a work zone. It covers nonremovable, removable, and short-term markings, and it applies them under Items 666, 668, and 672 depending on material.
Is removing work zone markings included in the price?
It depends on the tier. Removal of short-term and removable markings is subsidiary to Item 662. Elimination of nonremovable markings is paid under Item 677.
Why do removable work zone markings cost more than nonremovable ones?
Because the spec bans the cheap materials on removable codes. Hot-applied thermoplastic, multipolymer markings, and traffic paint can't be used for removable markings, which pushes you to removable prefabricated markings, RPMs, buttons, or tabs. In this data that's about a 3x step on a 6-inch solid line.
How thick do work zone thermoplastic markings have to be?
A minimum of 0.060 in., or 60 mils. Paint and beads, where allowed, go down at a minimum dry thickness of 0.012 in., or 12 mils.
How long do I have to place standard markings after short-term ones?
No later than 14 calendar days after the surface is placed, though the period can be extended when weather prevents proper application. On a surface treatment, standard markings go down no sooner than 3 calendar days after placement.
How is work zone marking visibility measured?
By eye from a moving car under dry conditions. Markings have to be visible from at least 320 ft., eight skiplines, in daylight, and at least 160 ft., four skiplines, at night under low-beam headlights.
How long am I responsible for work zone markings after installation?
Thirty calendar days. Deficiencies identified during that period still have to be corrected after it ends, and any replacement starts a fresh 30-day period of its own.
Can I use raised pavement markers instead of striping?
For removable placements, yes, at your option, with side-by-side RPMs on lines wider than 4 in. But RPMs can't be used for words, symbols, shapes, or diagonal or transverse lines.
How is Item 662 measured?
By the foot, or by each word, shape, symbol, or marker tab. Each stripe is measured separately. RPMs used to simulate a marking are measured by the foot of marking or by each RPM. It's a plans quantity item.
Is this pricing data free to use?
Yes. Every bid item pricing page linked above is free, no account needed.