photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Pavement markings on North Third Street are pictured on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026.

Unusual lane markings on some Lawrence streets this week were painted by a Kansas Department of Transportation crew by mistake, KDOT and the City of Lawrence say.

The city and KDOT both said in statements this week that the work took place on Wednesday in North Lawrence and on Sixth Street. Both of them said that the workers didn’t correctly verify where they were supposed to be painting, and ended up painting areas in the city limits that the city hadn’t asked to be painted.

“The City did not request this work, schedule this work, or pay for this work,” a news release from the city read. “Based on the City’s review so far, it appears the crew misread its map and went to the wrong location in Lawrence instead of the intended work area outside City limits.”

The release said that the city will not have to cover any costs for correcting the mistake.

“The City and KDOT have an excellent working relationship, and we’ll continue to coordinate and work together to resolve this marking situation,” Melissa Sieben, the city’s Municipal Services and Operations director, said in the release.

The city and KDOT do disagree about the quality of the pavement markings. The city said the markings “do not meet the quality standards expected for Lawrence streets,” but KDOT said in its statement that what it applied was “consistent with KDOT’s standard pavement marking practices.”

“While they differ from the City’s preferred approach for local streets, KDOT uses these methods because they provide a durable and cost-effective solution for maintaining the state highway system,” KDOT’s statement read.

KDOT also said that it would be reviewing its procedures with field crews about how to “confirm roadway ownership and maintenance responsibility with appropriate staff.”