Post last updated at 4:46 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13:
It appears the mystery painters who restriped Lawrence streets without the city’s knowledge were with the Kansas Department of Transportation, the city announced Thursday.
The city had issued a news release Wednesday afternoon to address the restriping, which took place Wednesday morning 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.
“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 Wednesday. “These markings do not meet the quality standards that we expect for our Lawrence streets.
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Based on the city’s review so far, “it appears the crew misread its map and went to the wrong location in Lawrence instead of the intended work area outside City limits,” the city stated in a follow-up news release.
“The City did not request this work, schedule this work, or pay for this work,” according to the release, nor will the city be responsible for the cost to correct the mistakes.
KDOT on Thursday afternoon issued a news release in response, acknowledging that the pavement marking work was “mistakenly performed” because of an employee error in identifying routes, but the department stood by the quality of the work and said the city’s markings were not altered as a result of the error.
KDOT’s release stated that the markings are consistent with the department’s standard, and “While they differ from the City’s preferred approach for local streets, KDOT uses these methods because they provide a durable and cost-effective solution for maintaining the state highway system.”
“KDOT recognizes that verification did not occur and is reviewing internal procedures with field crews to confirm roadway ownership and maintenance responsibility with appropriate staff prior to starting work,” according to the release.
Melissa Sieben, director of Municipal Services & Operations for the city, said in the release that the city and KDOT have an excellent working relationship, and they’ll continue working together to resolve the situation.
“The City understands this situation has caused confusion and prompted questions, especially for drivers who encountered the lesser quality markings on recently painted streets,” the city’s release continued. “City staff will continue coordinating with the Kansas Department of Transportation and will share additional information when corrective work is confirmed.”
The city is not aware of any traffic issues related to the newly painted lines, Leos said, and the city affirmed Thursday that the affected areas are safe to drive through.
KDOT also affirmed that the department is committed to working with local governments to maintain the state’s infrastructure and is communicating with the City of Lawrence to determine next steps.
See further photographic documentation of the blurry lines along Sixth Street in the article at this link.
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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.
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