diff --git a/vtm/src/org/oscim/backend/canvas/Color.java b/vtm/src/org/oscim/backend/canvas/Color.java
index 7f33bfc3..6a3e27c1 100644
--- a/vtm/src/org/oscim/backend/canvas/Color.java
+++ b/vtm/src/org/oscim/backend/canvas/Color.java
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import org.oscim.utils.FastMath;
 
 public final class Color {
 
+	private static final int OPAQUE = 0xff000000;
+
 	public static int fadePremul(int color, double alpha) {
 		alpha = FastMath.clamp(alpha, 0, 1);
 
@@ -239,7 +241,10 @@ public final class Color {
 		return fallBackColor;
 	}
 
+	public static boolean isOpaque(int color) {
+		return (color & OPAQUE) == OPAQUE;
+	}
+
 	private Color() {
-		/* Singleton */
 	}
 }
diff --git a/vtm/src/org/oscim/renderer/bucket/PolygonBucket.java b/vtm/src/org/oscim/renderer/bucket/PolygonBucket.java
index b864a9e3..bb6ffb3b 100644
--- a/vtm/src/org/oscim/renderer/bucket/PolygonBucket.java
+++ b/vtm/src/org/oscim/renderer/bucket/PolygonBucket.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import static org.oscim.utils.FastMath.clamp;
 import java.nio.ShortBuffer;
 
 import org.oscim.backend.GL;
+import org.oscim.backend.canvas.Color;
 import org.oscim.core.GeometryBuffer;
 import org.oscim.core.MapPosition;
 import org.oscim.core.Tile;
@@ -155,7 +156,6 @@ public final class PolygonBucket extends RenderBucket {
 
 	public static final class Renderer {
 
-		private static final int OPAQUE = 0xff000000;
 		private static final int STENCIL_BITS = 8;
 		public final static int CLIP_BIT = 0x80;
 
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ public final class PolygonBucket extends RenderBucket {
 						                      a.blendColor, blendFill);
 					}
 				} else {
-					blend |= (a.color & OPAQUE) != OPAQUE;
+					blend |= !Color.isOpaque(a.color);
 					GLUtils.setColor(s.uColor, a.color, fade);
 				}
 
diff --git a/vtm/src/org/oscim/theme/styles/AreaStyle.java b/vtm/src/org/oscim/theme/styles/AreaStyle.java
index 1cfe9a0c..d849160c 100644
--- a/vtm/src/org/oscim/theme/styles/AreaStyle.java
+++ b/vtm/src/org/oscim/theme/styles/AreaStyle.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import org.oscim.utils.FastMath;
  * - create distance field per tile?
  */
 public class AreaStyle extends RenderStyle {
-	private static final int OPAQUE = 0xff000000;
+
 	private static final float FADE_START = 0.25f;
 
 	/** Drawing order level */
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ public class AreaStyle extends RenderStyle {
 	}
 
 	public boolean hasAlpha(int zoom) {
-		if ((color & OPAQUE) != OPAQUE)
+		if (!Color.isOpaque(color))
 			return true;
 
 		if (texture != null)
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public class AreaStyle extends RenderStyle {
 			return false;
 
 		if (zoom >= blendScale) {
-			if ((blendColor & OPAQUE) != OPAQUE)
+			if (!Color.isOpaque(blendColor))
 				return true;
 		}