Cobblestone Centerlines

[roadman65]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/MMDKBVWDtggqNdX57
One of the things that always bothered me was when my folks took me on a trip to Asbury Park. We would always pass through Deal, an upscale beach community north of Asbury Park and South of Long Branch and noticed the ugly street light poles, that Deal considered aesthetically appealing to visitors and their raised cobblestone center lines.

According to GSV, only one remains. They finally 86ed the ugly street light posts, but they kept the non MUTCD centerline to this day.

To me this set up looks awful. It looks unnatural and it's the only place along a thoroughfare, I have ever seen, that uses this method to stripe a center line.  Not to mention it doesn't look as upscale as the town really is.

What is your take on the way Ocean Avenue is striped as in the link above?

[1995hoo]

Based solely on that particular image, it looks nicer than a boring old double yellow painted line.

[kphoger]

non MUTCD centerline

I didn't know this was MUTCD-noncompliant.  To me, it's little different than a very narrow median.  What portion of the MUTCD prohibits this treatment?

[Hobart]

This sort of reminds me of the Washington State "raised medians" which were pretty much an extremely narrow and low median, painted yellow, between opposing directions of traffic. I can't find any examples on Google Maps right now but they're out there.

I've also seen a source somewhere state they encourage faster driving by creating an illusion of safety; although the median won't actually stop anyone, people see a median, think the road is safer, and then drive faster. I am curious if the cobblestone "striping" causes similar effects.

[roadfro]

Yeah, I'd call that a narrow median with cobblestone pavers before I'd call that a centerline. Thus, not an issue governed by MUTCD.

Now, theoretically, you would have yellow lines along those medians... However, I think it's also pretty common to not have that.


EDIT: Added second sentence on first line.

[jamess]

non MUTCD centerline

I didn't know this was MUTCD-noncompliant.  To me, it's little different than a very narrow median.  What portion of the MUTCD prohibits this treatment?

I also cannot think of a reason this is not allowed by MUTCD

[CtrlAltDel]

I recall some contention a while back about using more or less decorative elements as the edges of a crosswalk, with one side saying a crosswalk so marked is fine and the other saying it isn't. The MUTCD doesn't accept that sort of thing, at least outside of specific cases, since it states that crosswalk lines must be white among other things.

This situation appears to be similar. Center lines must be yellow and of a certain width, and this isn't any of those, and so, these cobblestones don't represent a center line as such. Now, whether this situation complies with the MUTCD is a bit more complex since, as some have stated, the cobblestones could be a median. That strikes me as a bit of a stretch, but it's probably fine anyway, since the MUTCD doesn't require center lines on roads with one lane in each direction. I don't know, though, if the bike lanes count in that.

[ErmineNotyours]

This sort of reminds me of the Washington State "raised medians" which were pretty much an extremely narrow and low median, painted yellow, between opposing directions of traffic. I can't find any examples on Google Maps right now but they're out there.

Is this what you're talking about?

[Hobart]

This sort of reminds me of the Washington State "raised medians" which were pretty much an extremely narrow and low median, painted yellow, between opposing directions of traffic. I can't find any examples on Google Maps right now but they're out there.

Is this what you're talking about?

Slightly further up at the left turn, yeah!
https://maps.app.goo.gl/TVfiA5DZ2hbiBAPN6