A delay to painting road lines in Kamloops this year is a Catch-22, according to city staff.

With line painting two months behind because of COVID-19 delays and because of wet weather earlier in the year, Streets Manager Glen Farrow says there should be a public safety benefit in the fall months.

“Everything’s been completed on the paintings of crosswalks, markings, those things that are high concerns from a pedestrian perspective. What hasn’t been completed yet are the long lines. So we are working with the contractor to do those long lines,” he said. “As the days get shorter, this is actually a good time to have fresh road markings on the asphalt.”

“Yes, it’s going to snow soon, but through the months of October and November, those lines will definitely, when it’s darker out, reflect a little better than what they historically have than what they have when we’ve painted in June and July.”

Fraser Valley-based Infinite Road Markings has been hired to paint 440 kilometres of road lines in Kamloops, at a cost of $160,000.

“We’re almost at the point now that they will arrive soon. The one benefit of having this contractor on board is once they do arrive, they’ll be in and out quite quickly,” Farrow added. “More trucks, more staff. They’ll be able to attack the city very quickly.”

Work is expected to be finished by September 30th.