Caltrans: Botts Dots Out, 6-inch Lane Lines In

[myosh_tino]

MUTCD Sec. 3A-06, standard: A normal line is 4-6 inches wide. A wide line is at least twice the width of a normal line.
MUTCD Sec. 3D-02, standard: For buffer-separated and contiguous preferential lanes, the dividing lane line(s) are to be wide white lines.

An update:
We will continue to use 8-inch stripe.  Our traffic engineering team is interpreting the MUTCD standard liberally and believes that 8-inch meets the requirements for wide stripes.  We will not be using 6-inch double white stripes on HOV lanes as they don't meet the MUTCD requirement.

So...

IF a "normal" line is 4-6 inches wide *AND* a "wide" line is at least twice the width of a normal line,
THEN a "wide" line must be at least 8-12 inches wide (2 x normal line).

It's an interesting interpretation of the MUTCD for sure. 

[roadfro]

MUTCD Sec. 3A-06, standard: A normal line is 4-6 inches wide. A wide line is at least twice the width of a normal line.
MUTCD Sec. 3D-02, standard: For buffer-separated and contiguous preferential lanes, the dividing lane line(s) are to be wide white lines.

An update:
We will continue to use 8-inch stripe.  Our traffic engineering team is interpreting the MUTCD standard liberally and believes that 8-inch meets the requirements for wide stripes.  We will not be using 6-inch double white stripes on HOV lanes as they don't meet the MUTCD requirement.

So...

IF a "normal" line is 4-6 inches wide *AND* a "wide" line is at least twice the width of a normal line,
THEN a "wide" line must be at least 8-12 inches wide (2 x normal line).

It's an interesting interpretation of the MUTCD for sure. 

There's nothing that says the wide line has to be twice the width of the normal stripe used on the same road 

So from a liberal interpretation of the MUTCD guidelines (which I very loosely summarized above), the Caltrans interpretation works.

[myosh_tino]

Apparently, the discontinued use of Botts Dots is limited to roadways under state-maintenance.  Two major streets in my home town were recently repaved and in both cases, only Botts Dots were used for the lane lines.  No other type of striping was used (thermoplastic or paint).

Also, a section of Lawrence Expressway between Saratoga Ave and Homestead Rd was repaved by the county and it looks like they will also be using Botts Dots to mark the lane lines.

[i-215]

discontinued use of Botts Dots is limited to roadways under state-maintenance.  Two major streets in my home town were recently repaved and in both cases, only Botts Dots were used for the lane lines.

Not to mention private traffic areas.  A center with Home Depot I went to in the Inland Empire did ALL their non-parking space striping in botts dotts.  Everything!



Even trying to write out the word STOP   

Nuts for me to see, since I grew up in snow country where no raised markers are ever used, except those temporary flappy ones when a street is freshly repaved and restriped.

[bing101]

Parts of I-80 in Solano county has removed Botts dots.

[thenetwork]

^ I'm curious... The article/interview says that California is one of only 4 states still using Botts Dots. I know Nevada is another. What are the other two states?

There are some municipalities around Dallas/Ft. Worth TX that use Bott's Dots on their surface streets, but I don't recall seeing any on their freeways/tollways:  its usually the black/white striping on those highways. 

[myosh_tino]

Not to mention private traffic areas.  A center with Home Depot I went to in the Inland Empire did ALL their non-parking space striping in botts dotts.  Everything!



Even trying to write out the word STOP   

That's crazy.  I would have thought using paint would have been far cheaper than using all those Botts Dots to draw the arrows and spell out the word "STOP". 

[myosh_tino]

First off, my apologies for dragging up a 4+ month old thread but...

While I see the need for going to a wider 6-inch stripe on freeways, highways and other higher speed roads, I really don't see the point of using them on city streets in urban areas.  Case in point, the city of Sunnyvale recently repaved a section of Hollenbeck Avenue, a 2-lane city street through a residential area that sees a fair amount of traffic, and the city laid down 6-inch wide double-yellow lines.  The lines are closer together due to the added width and look ugly as &^%$!

My question to those living in states where they use 6-inch stripes on freeways, does that carry over to city streets as well?

[roadfro]

My question to those living in states where they use 6-inch stripes on freeways, does that carry over to city streets as well?

In Nevada, I've only ever seen the wide stripes on freeways and some divided state highways. I don't think I've seen wide stripes on city- or county-maintained streets.

[myosh_tino]

My question to those living in states where they use 6-inch stripes on freeways, does that carry over to city streets as well?

In Nevada, I've only ever seen the wide stripes on freeways and some divided state highways. I don't think I've seen wide stripes on city- or county-maintained streets.

That's what I thought.  I was in Reno a few weeks ago and I don't recall seeing 6" lane or double-yellow lines on city streets granted I was pretty much confined to the "tri-properties" area with the exception of a jaunt down to the Atlantis.

[jeffe]

The lines are closer together due to the added width and look ugly as &^%$!

Yeah, the spacing on the new double yellow lines does look really weird.  The old 4 inch lines had a 3 inch gap, which created a gap that was 75% of the width of each line.

The new 6 inch lines have the same 3 inch gap.  To keep the same proportion they should really be using a 4 or 4.5 inch gap.

The other ratio that doesn't really work is that between the 6 and 8 inch lines -- it's too subtle.  The lines for an exit only lane look very similar to the 6 inch through lanes; it's only the difference in length that makes the exit only line look different.

I know that Caltrans is hesitant to 12 inch lines due to space constraints, but it seems like the "double width" lines should be maybe 10 inches or so to make them stand out.

[myosh_tino]

The lines are closer together due to the added width and look ugly as &^%$!

Yeah, the spacing on the new double yellow lines does look really weird.  The old 4 inch lines had a 3 inch gap, which created a gap that was 75% of the width of each line.

The new 6 inch lines have the same 3 inch gap.  To keep the same proportion they should really be using a 4 or 4.5 inch gap.

In the Sunnyvale example I referenced earlier, it looks like they went 6-1-6, meaning 6-inch wide yellow lines with a 1 inch gap. 

[MarkF]

For some reason, Caltrans is re-striping concrete bridge surfaces on a different schedule from the adjoining asphalt roadway, so you get the situation like shown below where you can compare the new and old types of striping:

[TheStranger]

Late in 2018, the lane lines on US 101's Bayshore Freeway segment in San Francisco were repainted to the 6-inch widths.  Actually fascinating to see how the lane lines shrink once one reaches Brisbane going southbound!

[seicer]

For some reason, Caltrans is re-striping concrete bridge surfaces on a different schedule from the adjoining asphalt roadway, so you get the situation like shown below where you can compare the new and old types of striping:

Thermoplastic doesn't really hold up well on concrete from what I recall. Kentucky would apply thermoplastic on asphalt but not on the bridges, so they would be striped with regular paint trucks.

[sparker]

It seems that in addition to Caltrans some CA cities are doing away with raised reflectors -- or more likely, just not replacing them when the adhesive goes and the reflectors simply are tossed aside by traffic.  Noticed that during the most recent severe storms last week; had to make a quick surface-street trip from SJ to Cupertino during the peak of the storm to replace a defective component for a client; most of the reflectors on the streets I used (Prospect, De Anza Blvd.) were gone -- made it very difficult to see the lane markings in sheeting rain.  Now I'm wondering if local jurisdictions are planning on employing reflective thermoplastic lane markings to replace the raised markers a la Caltrans' new format;  standard paint just doesn't cut it in severely foul weather.  Either that -- or just retain the reflective markers, replacing them as needed! 

[TheStranger]

Late in 2018, the lane lines on US 101's Bayshore Freeway segment in San Francisco were repainted to the 6-inch widths.  Actually fascinating to see how the lane lines shrink once one reaches Brisbane going southbound!

Update to my post:

Noticed the lane lines continue into South San Francisco.  I'll have to look and see how far south they go in San Mateo County

[MarkF]

From what I've seen, Caltrans is still using a single raised reflector between the new lines. 
reflector, black line (if on concrete), white line, space (repeat)

[Kniwt]

Perhaps connected to this project: Driving I-15 from Barstow to Las Vegas today, I noticed that the "truck lanes" are now marked with standard dashed lane lines, not the solid white lines that have been used for years and years. There are still big overhead white signs that say "Truck lane / Slow vehicles only," but the pavement markings are just the usual. (In fact, you can see where the old solid line has been blasted away.)

Sorry, no pics.