I-10 in the Sonoran Desert of California

[Max Rockatansky]

Interstate 10 from the California/Arizona state line at the Colorado River to Coachella Valley passes through the rural Sonoran Desert of Riverside County.  Interstate 10 was completed to freeway standards between Blythe and Coachella during the early 1970s.  The Blythe-Coachella segment of Interstate 10 is historically tied to US Route 60 and US Route 70.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2023/10/interstate-10-in-sonoran-desert-between.html?m=1

[N9JIG]

I drove I-10 from Blythe at the AZ border to Beaumont both ways this week. I noticed a couple things here...

First (and I don't know if CA does this everywhere or not...) what is the deal with the white edge stripes approaching exits? About 150 feet shy of the gore point the right side lane stripe ends. Then right there the stripe starts but at the edge of the shoulder and curves to the ramp.

In addition, the right edge strip after the exit is offset a few inches, about even with the "Exit xxx" sign. As far as the offset stripe I could see it happening at a single exit if the stripers weren't careful but this seemed to be almost EVERY exit, like it was meant to be that way. I could not get pictures of this but it is clearly visible on Google Maps.

The third thing was on some recently rebuilt sections near the Coachella area it appears a vehicle drove on the concrete in Lane 2 before it was fully cured, you can see the tire imprints as you drive. The imprints of course are right where one would drive in the lane and when in that section it sounds like you are in a continuous skid. A Foley artist could record that and use it for a car chase scene!

[roadfro]

First (and I don't know if CA does this everywhere or not...) what is the deal with the white edge stripes approaching exits? About 150 feet shy of the gore point the right side lane stripe ends. Then right there the stripe starts but at the edge of the shoulder and curves to the ramp.

We've discussed this in some other thread on this board, and I believe the reasoning was that this design decision allows drivers to easily identify upcoming exits in fog-prone areas.