Kirstin Davis, Communications Manager - Public Works, 509.625.7773
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 1:27 p.m.
Summer is in full swing which means City street maintenance crews are working on all sorts of weather-dependent projects to keep streets in good condition. Striping crosswalks, lane markings, and other directional information is a good portion of this work every year. We have been receiving comments about street markings and striping that needs to be repainted for better visibility.
In February 2021, Texas experienced a freeze that affected petrochemical plant production. An ingredient that is used in traffic marking paint and the industry has not been able to recover from that incident.
For the past two years, our City signs/marker crews have been only able to purchase a portion of the street paint needed for the season because of supplier issues. The City uses three different paint suppliers leveraging different contracts to purchase paint. All three vendors continue to struggle to fill orders for street striping and markings.
The striping crew has been actively working this season and has already used up the first load of traffic paint. The second load of traffic paint has been on order for some time now and was scheduled to be delivered in mid-June. Additionally, the timing of delivery for the back-ordered paint will be challenging as it arrives in the later part of the summer season. Streets crews will have a very short window of time to put the remaining paint down before winter weather arrives.
Our Street Department categorizes and prioritizes schools, highways, arterials, collection routes and projects that need new markings. The team is working to get all of the striping done and will resume striping activities once the next load of paint arrives.
To learn more about Street Maintenance, visit our website.
