Herman: Trying to paint parts of town red, again

OK, let’s try this again — and try not to get marooned this time.

Review: Back in October, I told you about how the red paint applied to mark bus lanes on a few blocks of Guadalupe and Lavaca streets near the University of Texas had turned — gasp! — a decidedly maroonish tone.

This was not my conclusion as I’m a bit color challenged. This was the conclusion of none other than Rob Spillar, the city of Austin’s transportation director, who, in a downtown speech had touted the bus lanes but acknowledged “our new red bus lanes have turned A&M maroon. … We’re trying to figure out why they’re turning maroon and aren’t still bright red.”

So imagine my consternation when this gem of an email hit the ol’ inbox this week: “Austin Transportation and Capital Metro partner to paint transit priority lanes red.”

Oh, no. Have we not learned from the previous attempt to paint lanes not far from the U of T?

“Beginning this week, the Austin Transportation Department is adding red paint to the existing transit priority lanes on Guadalupe and Lavaca streets, between Third and 17th streets on Guadalupe Street and Third and 15th streets on Lavaca Street,” we were told.

The announcement included this Spillar quote: “The city is excited to partner with Capital Metro to build on our first red lanes deployed last year. Establishing red lanes increases clarity of use for all road users and Capital Metro reports improved on-time performance for transit riders.”

Fine, great. But will these red lanes remain red or are we running the risk of additional Aggie maroonish lanes in the vicinity of Big Burnt Orange U?

Because I know you want to know, I turned to Sam Haynes, Transportation Department spokeswoman.

“Is the same paint going to be used that turned maroonish on the other streets?” I asked. “If so, has that problem been solved?”

“Good morning,” Haynes, holder of a master’s degree from Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government and Public Service, promptly and politely replied. “We are using different materials than we used for the contraflow project last year. These materials are MMA road paint and thermo pavement markings.”

This should work out better. “MMA road paint” is paint derived from the blood-red blood spilled during mixed martial arts bouts, so it should stay pretty red.

If only ….

Highway Markings Ltd., (highwaymarkings.ie, which I know you already have bookmarked), bills itself as “one of the leading independently owned providers to the Irish road maintenance industry” and tells us: “MMA (methyl methcrylate) cold plastic is a two-component road marking paint. It is an extremely durable product used at high-stress traffic locations such a roundabouts, junctions and heavily trafficked roads.”

“While the initial cost is higher than conventional thermoplastic materials,” the company says, “MMA cold plastic will have an increased service life when used at high-stress locations.”

Some tips from highwaymarkings.ie that could prove useful if you’re thinking about using this material at a high-stress location in your home: “MMA cold plastic is designed for hand screed application only, using a drag box. Recommended thickness is 1.0-3.0 mm.”

So that’s good. And I don’t know where the city got the red paint that morphed into maroonish. Maybe it had coupons for it at Lowe’s?

FYI, it looks like it will take “up to two months” to complete painting the new lanes. And that means closure of the lanes a block at a time. Reminder: Using standard governmental notions of the time/space continuum, “up to two months” means this project should be completed sometime within the next year or so.

Another reminder: In these lanes, buses have priority but all vehicles can use them for right turns at intersections.

Bottom line: It’s looking pretty good for these new road markings to remain red. Imagine how embarrassing that would be if that turns out to be the dominant color of another major Longhorn rival?

FYI, nothing has been done yet about the maroonish lanes, which, Haynes reports, “still have their original paint.”

Which means our long national nightmare is not over. OK, that’s a bit hyperbolic. But can’t our short, local mild embarrassment be painted over?