Shorewood trustees weigh paint vs. epoxy, set direction for pavement-marking policy

Trustee and staff debate over how often Shorewood should remark pavement markings and whether to use paint or epoxy dominated a lengthy Public Works Committee discussion on the 2025 Capitol Drive Pedestrian Improvements Initiative. Leanne, the village director of public works, told trustees that paint markings typically need remarking every one to two years while epoxy has a manufacturer‑stated life of three to five years and costs more up front.

The conversation focused on tradeoffs between material cost, frequency of maintenance and traffic disruption. “The only way to change materials would be to completely remove, grind the paint from the pavement and start over,” Leanne said, explaining operational limits. She presented three general paint schedules — remark all paint annually (baseline), remark school‑zone and business‑district markings annually and everything else every other year, or remark everything every other year — with estimated average annual budget impacts in the low tens of thousands of dollars based on Shorewood’s recent contracts.

Trustees compared 10‑year cost projections for the two material strategies presented by staff. Trustee Kudo observed the incremental operating difference and asked whether the committee should pay about $20,000 more per year for the longer life of epoxy; “Is the juice worth the squeeze on $19 a year?” she asked. Leanne and trustees agreed material performance depends strongly on traffic volume and turning movements — crosswalks on Capitol Drive show faster daytime contrast loss than centerlines on residential streets — so a single approach would not suit every segment.

Several trustees favored keeping epoxy on the main arterials and high‑visibility locations while using paint in lower‑traffic areas. One trustee argued that Capitol and Morris intersection markings should be kept bright and painted more often for visibility, even if that raises recurring maintenance and traffic‑control costs during remarking. Leanne cautioned that moving forward with a schedule requires operational planning: “Typically by now I’m arranging for pavement marking for the year; I’ve not done that given that we’re having this discussion.”

By the end of the session staff said they would draft a formal pavement‑marking policy that captures the committee’s directions — including prioritizing main arterials for epoxy, considering paint for high‑visibility crosswalks when community expectations emphasize brightness, and evaluating biannual paint remarking on lower‑traffic streets — and return with a policy document and clearer costs for budget planning.

The committee did not adopt a final policy at the meeting; staff will prepare a policy in the village’s standard format and present it for further committee and board consideration.