PHOENIX - Los Angeles started a pilot program last summer to whiten some streets as a way to beat the heat.
With temperatures on the rise, David Sailor, director of the Urban Climate Research Center at Arizona State University, said it can also be done in Arizona.
Los Angeles city officials call it “cool pavement,” and according to LA’s city page, a thin coat of liquid is spread over the asphalt. It’s an oil-based sealant that prevents cracking and potholes, except this one is made with a light-colored pigment that turns the street from black to white.
Sailor, who has studied ways to reduce Valley temps for decades, says highly reflective surfaces is just one solution to solving the urban heat problem.
“Vegetation is another solution. Reducing waste heat from energy consumption in the city is yet a third solution,” said Sailor.
For now, the ASU professor says there are tree planting programs in the Valley to help minimize heat, like in Phoenix and Tempe.
However, Sailor says whitening streets is not a better or worse alternative to tree planting and vegetation.
“They each have different types of benefits,” said Sailor.