Cars and a biker on a multi-lane road. There is also a person walking on the sidewalk.
Traffic Engineering
Yang Tao, Traffic Engineering Director

Decorative Pavement Painting

Decorative pavement painting can bring neighbors together, help build community, and beautify your neighborhood. Paintings are a group project, and you will need the support and participation of your neighbors and neighborhood association.  Paintings also require an ongoing commitment.  They will need to be touched up or repainted every 1-3 years.

Pavement painting does not decrease traffic speeds or volume.  If you are concerned about traffic speeds in your neighborhood, please suggest an improvement.  

  1. Planning

    Talk to your neighbors to see if they are interested in participating.  This is a group project, so you will need support from as many neighbors as possible.

    Streets must have a speed limit of 25 mph or less, and must be a local street. 

    Check if the street is eligible by contacting Traffic Engineering

    Contact you alder. Your application will need to include a letter or email of support from them, and they may have to suggestions or concerns.  To find your alder, visit the alder district lookup.

    Contact your neighborhood association or planning council.  They will be the sponsor and will file the application for your project.  Business associations and non-profit community organizations may also be eligible.  Note that the sponsor must have a general liability insurance policy.

  2. Develop your design

    Develop the design you want to paint.  It must meet the following criteria:

    • Designs must be purely decorative. They cannot contain text, numbers, symbols, logos, or images designed to convey a message.
    • Designs cannot create a 3D effect or other optical illusion.
    • Designs cannot include anything similar to traffic control markings, like lane markers or crosswalk lines.
    • Designs cannot interfere with existing traffic control markings.
    • Designs cannot be used to create new crosswalks, or to attract people into parts of the road that are used by vehicles. 

  3. Get your design approved

    Send a copy of your pavement painting design to Traffic Engineering. 

    Your design must be in color and must include dimensions.  It should include the locations of curb ramps, crosswalks, and other traffic markings.

  4. Collect petition signatures

    After the design has been approved you can begin to collect signatures on the petition. Traffic Engineering will determine the petition area. Generally, this will be 200 feet in all directions from the painting location. A larger area, up to 600 feet (a typical city block length) can be required if it is felt a larger area will be impacted by the painting. The petition form you need to use is included in Appendix 2. You can make as many copies of this form as you need. Remember to bring a color copy of the approved painting design with you when gathering signatures. Signatures indicating approval of the project, location and design need to be gained from at least 60% of the total number of residential dwelling units, businesses, and non-residential properties within the petition area. Each dwelling unit, business and non-residential property is entitled to one signature. Once you have collected signatures from at least 60% of those within the petition area you are ready to assemble your application packet.

  5. Apply for a permit

    Once you have successfully completed the above steps, 

    • confirmed that the location you want to paint is eligible.
    • have the support of the Alder.
    • have an eligible sponsor willing to submit the application and maintain the required insurance.
    • developed your design and have it approved
    • gathered enough signatures on the petition from the area defined by Traffic Engineering.

    you are ready to complete and submit the permit application. 

    Print the application

    Important:

    Make sure that the applicant association is fully aware of the on-going insurance and other contractual obligations associated with this permit. 

    Proof of insurance and information on the type of paint and anti-skid additives (manufacturer and product line) will be needed after the Decorative Pavement Painting permit is issued but before painting occurs. 

    The completed application, including the scale color drawing of the design in relation to the location to be painted and the completed petition, should be sent to: 

    Economic Development Division

    Madison Municipal Building

    215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard P. O. Box 2983

    Madison, WI 53701-2983 

    Attn: Jenny Frese, Real Estate Agent 

    jfrese@cityofmadison.com 

    608-267-8719 

     

    The application approval process will generally take between 2 - 4 weeks.

  6. Prepare for painting

    Once your Decorative Pavement Painting permit is approved you are ready to plan your painting day. 

    Since you will need to close the intersection or block for painting (the type of closure depends on the painting location), you may also need a block party permit.

    Submit your proof of insurance and information on the type of paint and anti-skid additives (manufacturer and product line). You cannot do your painting until these have been received by the city and you have been notified of their approval. 

    Send both of these to: 

    Traffic Engineering Division 

    215 Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd, Suite 109 

    Madison, Wisconsin, 53703

    traffic@cityofmadison.com  

  7. Painting

    Recruit neighbors to help with the painting. Plan to have food and water for participants. Arrange for participants to be able to use bathroom facilities at a neighbors houses or rent a Porta-Potty for the day. Schedule a rain date, just in case. Take pictures and send a few to Traffic Engineering, including the finished product. Have fun!

Ongoing Maintenance

Your Decorative Pavement Painting will require regular maintenance. Paint will wear from traffic, snow plowing and street sweeping, and fade from sun exposure. You might need to touch up your painting every year or two and repaint every 2-3 years or so, depending on location. 

The applicant is responsible for all maintenance of the pavement painting, including all costs and materials, no matter the reason for the need for maintenance. If paintings are not maintained, the City can have the painting removed, charge you for the cost of this removal, and revoke the permit. 

You will need to secure a new Street Use Permit to safely close the street before doing any maintenance work. 

City maintenance and utility work: The road surface where your painting is located will also need to be maintained by the City. The following are some maintenance work that you can expect the City to perform, which may impact your design: 

  • Crack sealing occurs when cracks in the street are cleaned and filled with a sealant.
  • Chip Sealing is an application of an emulsion (asphalt and water) and an aggregate (chips) to keep water out of the pavement, and is typically done every 5 years after the second crack seal.
  • Resurfacing typically includes placing a new layer of asphalt over the existing pavement. 
  • Reconstruction occurs every 30 to 40 years, based on the street rating. 
  • Potholes that occur in the area of your pavement painting will have to repainted by you in the same design.
  • There are many utilities located underground in Madison, including water, sewer and gas lines, phone, fiber optic and other communications cables. When there are repairs needed, or upgrades, the street will be torn up and patched.

Chip sealing, resurfacing, patches and reconstruction will completely cover up or disturb your painting. When this occurs you will have to decide whether or not you want to repaint your design. You do not need to apply for a new Decorative Pavement Painting permit when this occurs, provided you repaint the original approved design. If you want to change the design, then you will need to apply for a new permit. 

Whether you decide to repaint or not, please inform Traffic Engineering of your decision.   

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