City seeking bids, cost savings for road striping

The city of Willoughby is seeking bids for its annual road striping program.

The city will be repainting about 70 lane miles of edge and lane lines, around 20 school zone area markings, as well as stop bars and crosswalks throughout the city.

Contractors are being asked for two bids concerning the project.

Willoughby Engineering Technician Steven Tyler said that the double bids are part of a new idea for the city.

“We’re asking for two sets of bids — one with a polyester paint that is supposed to stay down longer and last longer,” Tyler said, “and we just want to compare the pricing from the polyester paint to the regular paint to see if we might be able to get it to last two years, or hopefully have a cost savings initially a little bit more up front than have a cost savings down the road. But that remains to be seen. We’re just trying it this year (to) see how that works out.”

Typically, the city completes a road re-striping each year, rather than every two years. With two bids per contractor this year, the city could weigh costs and potentially try the new paint to determine its integrity.

“If we get the right dollar amount and we decide to go with the polyester, we want to know from each contractor what it would cost if we had them do this paint versus this paint,” Tyler said.

Bid packages are located at city hall and will be accepted until March 25. From there, the weather will determine when the striping takes place.

“We’ll start it shortly thereafter,” Tyler said. “Maybe April (or) early May, depending on the weather. We’re going to make sure that temperatures are warm enough for the paint to adhere properly.”