Changes to federal environmental regulations mean the city will be repainting traffic lines this year with less-durable, water-based paint.
In 2009 the federal government adopted regulations limiting the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in architectural and traffic marking paints. The regulations go into full effect this year.
"We've been permitted to use an oil-based paint in the past," city transportation manager Mick Jones said. "We don't expect it [water-based paint] to last as long. It's a lighter paint."
Jones said the switch is not expected to increase costs to the city, except those associated with the reduced lifespan of the paint.
The city already repaints all traffic markings in the city each year, he added. Traffic markings wear off as traffic drives on them, he said. In the winter, when the traffic markings aren't always as visible, sometimes traffic will be driving directly on the lines.
"Corners tend to be an area that is worse for wear. In some of the corners we have routed dots to provide a guide for painting and some indication during the winter," he said.
The city uses the same standards as the Ministry of Transportation for painting traffic markings, Jones said. The city's contractor's are required to ensure a certain amount of paint is applied per metre of traffic line.
The standards also set out rules for the type and quantity of reflective, glass beads which must be included in the paint to increase night visibility.
The first phase of the new, federal regulation went into effect on Sept. 9, 2010, prohibiting the manufacture or importation of paints containing 450 grams or more of VOCs per litre. On Sept. 10, 2012 the second phase goes into effect banning the sale of paints containing 450 grams per litre of VOCs, and prohibited paints containing more than 150 grams of VOCs per litre from being applied from May 1 to Oct. 15 each year.
The new regulations are in line with U.S. regulations.
VOCs are linked to air-quality problems with ground-level ozone and smog.
A University of Concordia study found the average service life for water-based paint traffic markings to be three months to three years, depending on traffic and weather conditions.
More expensive, longer-duration road marking methods such as epoxy paint, thermoplastic markings, methyl methacrylate (MMA) markings and tape markings were found to all be prone to damage from snowplows, the study found, which limits their usefulness in winter cities like Prince George.
However, according to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation, thermoplastic and MMA high-duration road markers are used on Highway 16 in the Prince George area. Those markers are recessed into the road surface to prevent damage from snow clearing, traffic and weather conditions.
