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A global shortage of the reflective paint used to stripe roads will limit the amount of striping work done in Washington County this summer, according to county spokeswoman Victoria Saager.

The county normally repaints the stripes on its roads during the summer. But this year, because of the paint shortage, the county will only be able to restripe certain major roads. The shortage is the result of several factors, including a shortage of titanium dioxide, the chemical that whitens the paint. The economic downturn and subsequent stimulus act are also contributors to the shortage, Saager said.

“During the economic downturn, paint producers allowed their inventories to get low,” Saager said. “Now we have all of this wonderful stimulus money for road projects, increasing the demand for paint. Now we have work, but no paint.”

More paint is on back order, Saager said, but the county’s contractor, Specialized Pavement Marking Inc., has enough paint for the area’s major roads: Barnes Road, Cornell Road, Farmington Road, Murray Boulevard, Scholls Ferry Road and Tualatin-Sherwood Road. The striping began this week and will continue through Aug. 27.