Edmonton's harsh winter left city streets not only cratered with potholes, but polished of any road markings.

Lane markers, crosswalks and stop lines seemed to have evaporated with the snow pack.

City road manager Brad Vanderhoek said the long winter of snowplowing and sanding scrubbed the markings from city roads.

For drivers like Arnold Bethune, the faded lane markings make spring driving nearly as troublesome as winter conditions.

"It's tough enough during the wintertime when the fresh snow's on the road, you can't see them, you have to guess where they're at. But then now, you can't see them either because they're basically not there," he says.

City road manager Brad Vanderhoek also blames new federal regulations that require the city to use less durable paint.

"Oil-based products are going away," he said. "Most painting products are water-based now. And they don't tend wear as well an oil-based product."

New paint more durable, but costly

The city is looking at new material that are environmentally friendly and last four to five times longer than regular road paint, Vanderhoek said.

"We want to extend the lifespan of markings so that we're not faced with this crunch every spring."

One of the compounds the city is looking at is a plastic-based compound called methyl methacrylate or MMA.

MMA is durable and won't freeze, so it can be applied in the winter, but costs 30 per cent more than conventional road paint and requires special machines to mix and apply it.

The city will try other compounds this summer to see what works best for Alberta's climate.

With the road-painting campaign starting this week, Vanderhoek hopes every road marking to be touched up before next winter.

With files from CBC's Niall McKenna