Lining up in Saugatuck

Saugatuck City Councilman Jeff Spangler asked at a meeting May 7 if the centerlines on Elizabeth Street in front of the high school could be corrected. The lines on one side of the Main Street intersection don’t line up with the lines on the other side of the intersection. No one is sure if it’s a safety issue, but it does look odd.

There’s a centerline out of line in the city of Saugatuck and it’s just going to have to stay askew for a few more years.

Saugatuck and Douglas officials on Monday approved a joint centerline painting bid for a total of $5,280 form Accurate Striping. Saugatuck will pay $2,992.50 and Douglas will pay $2,287.50 to have the yellow road lines repainting throughout their cities.

The bid is about $1,000 less than what Saugatuck paid last year, said City Manager Kirk Harrier. The extra one-time engineering costs to get the joint bids this year ate away at the savings, but more money will be saved in the future, he said.

Saugatuck city crews will still paint the crosswalks and parking spaces.

Councilman Jeff Spangler asked if the centerlines on Elizabeth Street in front of the high school could be corrected. The lines on one side of the Main Street intersection don’t line up with the lines on the other side of the intersection. No one is sure if it’s a safety issue, but it does look odd.

The council had three options to fix it: Remove the paint at a cost, paint over the lines with black tar at a cost or let it go unpainted this year so it can fade out. The city can then repaint the lines in the next few years and not pay anything to correct the mismatch.

The council chose the last option, hoping the mismatch will fade away.