Over these last years the words safe, stay safe, and safe and effective have been spoken and used numerous times. Safety doesn’t seem to be of concern, however, when applied to the diminishing traffic lines on our busy roads and highways.
The province decided several years ago that paints with any kind of lasting properties were bad for the environment and, as a result, we’ve seen a decline of visible line painting on our roads and highways, leading to dangerous driving conditions on many stretches.
In the past, we saw traffic line painting happen every few years because they used longer lasting paint. Now traffic line painting has become an annual project. Is it more environmentally friendly to paint every year with inferior paint, rather than every few years with longer lasting paint? Either way, the paint chips away and ends up along the highway in sand and dirt, eventually ending up in a waterway.
The hold back couldn’t be cost, considering all levels of government appear to have money for all sorts of projects, nor could it be weather, since we’ve seen numerous other lines painted recently, such as in parking lots and in rainbow street crossings.
What will it take to increase the safety of our roadways with the upkeep of visible paint lines? I implore our mayor, councillors, and MLAs to please address this urgent safety issue. I know I’m not alone in my desire for safer driving conditions, especially at night, and visible line painting on our roads and highways plays a huge role in that.
Ed Lindquist
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