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In Chicago, Staying In Your Lane Can Be Challenging, Maybe Impossible

(CBS) -- Crews painted lines onto Lake Shore Drive a couple years ago so that cars would know where each lane starts and stops.

But many streets around Chicago seem to be lineless. Either there are none painted at all or they are so faded they might as well not be there.

CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports.

Oh, the things we take for granted until they are gone. Like the white stripes that mark lanes on many of Chicago's busiest roads. Many are increasingly blurred.

"It's really hard because you don't know if you're in the right lane or not," Linda Owens-Thompson says.

At the Western Avenue bridge over Belmont is a double whammy: no shoulders or striping, making for an especially taxing drive.

Krista Cash says it's especially unnerving when there are bicycles sharing the road.

From a two-way stretch of School Street in Lakeview to a portion of Roosevelt Road near Canal, it's the same story – no lines.

Tim Martin says that makes his job, which includes driving several hours a day, very challenging.

Chicago Department of Transportation records show the agency spent $700,000 on pavement markings in 2009. The number had increased to $2.3 million by 2012.

CDOT says the department monitors all city streets but the priority is to mark pavement around schools and crosswalks, for safety purposes. Officials say the Western Avenue bridge will be demolished late this fall or winter.

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