# Red Paint Marks on the Sidewalk

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-paint-marks-on-the-sidewalk/483469>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 29, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-paint-marks-on-the-sidewalk/483469 "2009-01-29T00:39:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-paint-marks-on-the-sidewalk/483469/21 "2009-01-30T14:27:56Z")

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> [@robby](#):
>
> This may all sound silly, until you see an excavator did up an electric cable or a natural gas line. I’ve seen pictures, and they are not pretty. Both electric and natural gas are also usually relatively shallow (2-3 feet below grade).

Three times in memory, farmers severed the fiber optic line to our county and cut off all phone (including cellphone) communications when they used a backhoe without calling digger’s hotline first.

And the location of private propane lines was not recorded publicly until [this happened,](http://ellisonbaydisaster.com/) killing 2 people in 2006. The [voluntary registration](http://map.co.door.wi.us/propane/) has since been made mandatory state-wide.

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**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-paint-marks-on-the-sidewalk/483469/22 "2009-01-30T14:28:05Z")

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> [@robby](#):
>
> They do generally try to avoid marking up fancier surfaces, like granite or pavers, unless they know that they’re going to be dug up anyway.

My downtown area is being redone with brick streets since they’re having to replace the sewer pipes anyway. So they surveyed and marked up the entire downtown street network all at once. But of course, it’s a 4-year, block by block process. So even though the marks are going to be taken up, some of them are around for four years or more. Whatever the rationalization, it still leaves us with quasi-graffitti all over the place.

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-paint-marks-on-the-sidewalk/483469/23 "2009-01-30T23:49:15Z")

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> [@Hypno-Toad](#):
>
> Yeah, I get annoyed when survey crews markup the sidewalks and streets with their paint and then leave it there forever. Geez guys, could you use some less permanent paint? Or at least _try_ to remove the marks after you’re done?

The survey crews (actually, generally just 1 person) are not anywhere around when the work is done. It could be up to 3 weeks later legally (and in practice is often even later) when the construction crew does it’s work. So they are the ones that should be making an effort to remove the marks.

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