In recent years, finding the right people to paint lines on local roads has sometimes been a source of discombobulation for the City of Sault Ste. Marie.
"I personally have found that the company... which has been doing our line-painting for the past couple of years, is very quick at painting lines, but I find there were an awful lot of mistakes," said now-Mayor Matthew Shoemaker in 2019, when he was a Ward 3 councillor.., In 2018, the company was fined $70,000 after a member of one of its road-maintenance crews was critically injured in Toronto when a kettle of asphalt sealant spilled.
R&N also bid on the contract, but was second-lowest after McGuinness, which is estimated to receive $226,197 during the contract's first year. Yellow center line, white lane and edge-line markings are painted once a year: usually mid-June once the street sweeping program is completed. The municipality has approximately 211 kilometres of yellow centre line, 117 kilometers of white lane lines and 180 kilometres of white edge lines painted on an annual basis.