Vanishing lines a costly problem for roads department
The painted lines on Ottawa's roads are literally disappearing, leading to a surge in complaints from residents and saddling the city with a costly problem to solve.
The rapidly fading road markings have been an issue since 2012, when council voted to save money by repainting them just once a year. A few months later the federal government made it mandatory for municipalities to use paint with low volatile organic compounds (VOC), a more environmentally friendly alternative to the longer-lasting product many cities had been using.
The problem is, low-VOC paint tends to last less than a year on Ottawa's roads, and by spring many markings have disappeared completely.
"People were saying that they're finding it very difficult to navigate their roadway system because the lines were just gone," said Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans, who has noted a sharp increase in complaints from residents over the last few years.
City-wide, complaints have more than doubled since the city started using low-VOC paint, from 574 calls between 2008 and 2011 to 1,212 between 2013 and 2016.
Heavy traffic, frequent plowing and disintegrating pavement combine to cause the paint to fade more quickly than it used to.
There's no evidence the faded lines have led to more collisions, but there's a clear consensus the new paint isn't ideal for Ottawa's climate.
Pricier paint
Cities across the country are dealing with the same problem, and some are going as far to carve inlays into the asphalt in an attempt to lengthen the lifespan of their road markings.
There are better paints on the market, but that's a costly option.
Since 2014, Ottawa has budgeted $2.95 million annually to repaint the lines on its roads. Upgrading to more durable paint would cost the city about $5.3 million per year.
Staying with the cheaper paint but marking arterial roads twice a year would cost an extra $2 million, or an extra $3.2 million to paint all roads twice.
New truck wanted
The problem with that option is that the city has just one line-painting truck, making it difficult to reach every road, especially in years with poor weather. That's what happened in 2017, when the city received 507 complaints about faded lines.
Staff are expected to ask for a second truck during 2019 budget deliberations.
"I think what council will wrestle with when we get to the budget is, what is the best solution?" Deans said.
The city might try a combination of options instead of settling on just one.
"I think we can all agree that our roadways will be a safer place if we can all see the lines on the road," Deans said.
She plans to raise the issue during a summer session of the transportation committee on Wednesday.
