The shortage comes at a bad time. Spring starts the peak season for road work, with the repainting of those roads often being the final step.
The impact is already being felt locally. A&A Safety Inc., which does the road painting in the Dayton area, has laid off three crews due to the short supply of paint, according to T.R. O’Brien, sales representative for A&A.
O’Brien said they have been told the situation will not improve until at least Aug. 1, when paint supplies may be back at a normal level.
The Associated General Contractors of America said the paint shortage stems from low supplies of several different key ingredients, including titanium dioxide, which makes white paint reflective.The news comes after ODOT announced its largest construction season in history in April, with plans for 1,600 projects statewide. ODOT’s District 7, which includes Montgomery county, was slated for 102 of those projects. Varner said he does not expect the shortage to affect any of ODOT’s projects for now, and is “hopeful that it is a short-term shortage.”
It is a potentially major problem because most road work requires painting of new traffic lines. If there is not enough paint to safely repaint the road, the repaving could be postponed.
“In all likelihood, it’s going to impact Ohio, because it’s a nationwide shortage,” said Brian Deery, senior director, highway and transportation division for ACG of America. According to the 33,000-member industry trade group, there is about half as much paint as there would normally be, so states must find ways to ration it effectively.
One strategy to limit paint use is to paint the lane-dividing lines not worry as much about the lines on the shoulders.
“That way, at least cars will be able to stay on the correct side of the road,” Deery said. “The shoulder lines are not quite as important.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0743 or nwaggenspack@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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