It's usually something you start to see, once the ground is clear of snow and the pavement warm enough to have paint stick; line striping. Folks count on lane boundaries, indicator arrows and cross walks to navigate streets all over the state, whether by foot or on wheels.

And each year, lines fade with wear and tear and weather, and need to be repainted so they can be seen better. This year, people will have to wait a little longer to see those lines refreshed in Bangor.

According to a post on the City of Bangor Facebook Page, there is a reason for the delay this year.

"Work has been delayed this year due to a nationwide shortage of one of the major components of nearly all paints, methyl methacrylate. The freezing weather in Texas earlier this year damaged equipment and facilities, shutting down a major portion of U.S. production. While most producers are back to full production now, there is a huge backlog of orders due to demand from residential construction as well all the state and municipal demand for road striping, crosswalk painting, etc."

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And it's not just the paint municipalities use to paint roads and structures that are feeling the crunch of that shortage. The website paint.org, points to a number of different factors in a shortage of all types of paint this year, including rising lumber and oil prices, a lack of manpower to unload shipments, and an inability to obtain some of the materials needed to produce paint as many of the culprits causing delays in supplying paint across the nations, not just in Bangor.

"Production for virtually everything cannot keep up with demand. Shipping costs doubled and, in some cases, tripled. The great American seaports such as Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Savannah, and Seattle are being taxed beyond their capabilities—ships are waiting weeks to be unloaded."

What was once a wait of a couple of weeks to get paint components has become a wait of months.

Bangor City officials say that once the supplies become available again, the road striping will resume. Until then, they thank folks for their patience.

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