The City of Lawrence is seeking answers after a mysterious paint crew arrived in town Wednesday morning and painted over — and beyond — existing traffic markings along some key city streets.
The city issued a news release the same afternoon to address the restriping, which took place on westbound Sixth Street from Vermont Street to Congressional Drive, and through North Lawrence in the southbound lanes from city limits to the Kansas River Bridge.
No striping work was scheduled in the areas, according to the city.
“The newly striped lines were painted with poor quality and attention to detail,” Michael Leos, a spokesperson for the city’s Municipal Services and Operations department, said via email. “These markings do not meet the quality standards that we expect for our Lawrence streets.
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The city is not aware of any traffic issues related to the newly painted lines, Leos said.
Update, Thursday, Aug. 13:
“Despite the poor quality, the lines are still safe to follow and use in those affected areas,” he said; however, the city’s news release notes that drivers should use caution in the affected areas.
It is also unclear who the crews were and why they selected the streets they chose.
“The City’s Municipal Services & Operations Department is currently working to learn more about the paint crew that arrived in town this morning,” Leos said. “This crew is not related to any City projects or work in those areas.”
The newly painted lines remained in place as of Wednesday evening, Leos said.
The city is coordinating with the Kansas Department of Transportation to determine what happened and pursue appropriate corrective steps, according to the release.
“We appreciate the patience of our community as we work to correct this unexpected restriping issue,” Leos said. “We will share additional updates as soon as corrective work is confirmed.”
See further photographic documentation of the blurry lines along Sixth Street below.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Jacob Rice (he/him), photo correspondent, has worked with The Lawrence Times since March 2026. He studied journalism and mass communications at Iowa State University, where he spent four years as the visuals editor for the Iowa State Daily.
Check out his photography for the Times here. Read his articles for the Times at this link.
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