City of Ada puts halt to Cougar Paw painting

Aug. 12—Any big cats, especially Cougars, who were planning to travel from Ada High School to East Central University's Norris Field down Stadium Drive have been stopped in their tracks by the City of Ada.

The Ada Football Booster Club was preparing to re-paint the Cougar Paws that start at the high school and work their way down the road leading to Norris Field but were told that age-old tradition was coming to a halt.

"We just heard from the Ada City Manager Cody Holcomb that the long-standing tradition (40+ years) of Cougar Paws being painted on the road from Ada High School to the East Central football stadium is all of a sudden a violation of city code and will no longer be allowed," Ada Football Booster Club spokesman Jeremy Marr told The Ada News earlier this week. "The booster club simply asked for assistance with blocking off the street so we could paint over the faded ones and were told we could not."

Marr said Cougar Moms, a branch of the Ada Football Booster Club, reached out to the City of Ada before the start of the 2022 football season but didn't receive a reply.

"People were complaining about how bad (the Cougar Paws) they look ... but the Cougar Moms got no response," Marr said.

When asked about the situation, City of Ada Public Information Director Lisa Bratcher said too many people have requested to paint things on city streets as of late.

"The City of Ada can no longer accommodate requests for painting images or verbiage on city streets. In the last few years, we have received multiple requests in different areas of the city," Bratcher explained. "If each request were permitted, it would create traffic safety issues."

Bratcher also referred to guidelines set by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

"The City of Ada follows guidelines from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) which updated the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) to provide standards, guidance, options, and supporting information relating to maintaining minimum levels of retro-reflectivity for pavement markings," she said. "The MUTCD is incorporated in FHWA regulations and recognized as the national standards for traffic control devices used on all streets, highways, bikeways, and private roads open to public travel."