Unusual pavement markings

[wanderer2575]

A couple local oddities have popped up.  I'm assuming these aren't errors, but I've not seen them before and hoping someone can explain the use.

First:  Cass Street in downtown Detroit.  As part of a repaving project, bike lanes have been added.  Here is a northbound view at the I-75 service drive.  You can see the bike lane crossing the intersection.  What throws me is the wide (five- or six-feet) perpendicular green line where a white vehicle stop bar would normally be.  This green field doesn't extend across the full width of the street, so it's not a bike lane.  What is it?  (They haven't yet repainted the pedestrian crossings, so a white stop bar may also still be coming.)



Second:  Grand River Avenue on the west side of downtown Farmington.  Again recently repaved, and the lane markings include a dashed double yellow center line.  This appears to be permanent, not temporary tape pieces laid down by the contractor.  The dashes are very short, not the length of white lane separators.  Other than a guide through intersections, I've never seen a dashed yellow center line like this.  Note that the lane widths here are only 10', not the standard 12'.  Does that have something to do with it?

[davewiecking]

As to your second photo, those lane markings are typically used where lane directions change for different reasons, such as rush hour, or entrance/exit at a large stadium. Is that the case here?

[Revive 755]

For the first photo, possibly an improperly sized bicycle box?

For the second photo, if one of the lanes was going to be reversible, there should be another set of yellow lines instead of white skip-dashes.  Is it possible the permanent double yellow centerline has just not been place yet, and the current centerline markings are still the temporary ones?

[jakeroot]

There's already a thread for this: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18816.0

To answer your questions...

1) the wide green area is a bike box. Bikes filter to the front of traffic while waiting for a green light. This box indicates where they should wait. These are used for various reasons, but it's mainly to facilitate progress for those cycling, and to prevent hook turns (they make cyclists much more visible).

2) Those are definitely temporary markings. I see that style all the time while construction is still occurring.

[myosh_tino]

2) Those are definitely temporary markings. I see that style all the time while construction is still occurring.

I disagree.

If you look closely, there's a temporary thin white spray painted line that runs perpendicular to the double yellow lines.  That's an indication to terminate the double yellow lines at that point.  Then there's a white mark to indicate where to place the dashed double yellow lines.  The only place I've seen these type of markings are where there are reversible lanes.

[jakeroot]

I'll bet 500 to 1 that they're temporary markings. The white paint just indicates to the contractor to stop painting to that point for the time being. Why would reversible lanes start mid-block anyway?

Am I the only person who's seen these markings many times before? They are always indicative of temporary markings. Why they don't paint the permanent markings? I dunno. Not done with construction yet, probably.

Oh, and these aren't reversible lane markings. Reversible lane markings are the same length as the dashed white lines. These clearly aren't.

[vdeane]

I've seen them before.  Pretty standard temporary markings that are used between the very temporary "paint here" markings and the final markings (which usually only appear after the construction has been finished).

[realjd]

For #2, Florida in places uses a double yellow dashed line for roads where they want to allow passing but also are dangerous enough that they want to keep traffic a bit more separated: https://www.google.com/maps/place/North+Atlantic+Ocean/@24.6968841,-81.1768714,3a,57.3y,246.27h,73.08t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s1Pi6nJZDfspL4PF__d4Wsg!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0xadd28c30ec90d79:0x44652457c0696504

I'll see if I can find some more examples. They used to have them on US1 through the 18 mile stretch between Florida City and Homestead before they rebuilt the road with a big blue barrier in the middle.

In your picture though, those are just temporary construction markings. They'll go through and paint them properly when the road is finished. They probably have to put the top layer of asphalt down still.

[Michael]

I did a quick Google, and I figure this is the best thread for this post.  Anyway, I just saw this picture in an article about a new Dunkin' (without the Donuts) on Syracuse.com:


(larger version)

When I looked at the larger version, I noticed something I've never seen before: the text on the pavement is in the font Dunkin' Donuts uses.  The closest I've seen to this is the Golden Arches logo in McDonald's drive-thrus and the Pickup logo at some Walmarts.