Line marking techniques

[Brandon]

Here we go, a few photographs to better illustrate Illinois's style of striping and transitions:

Along Illinois 126 in Kendall County (IDOT District 3).

[Indyroads]

OR/WA does the 3 pain system.  CA doesn't, but they usually put a strip of black paint to add contrast for the light pavement often used.

Didn't Oregon at one time place rounded stones or humps between the two center lines? I remember seeing them spaced about 2-4 feet apart approaching some intersections in the state. They were embedded in the pavement and painted yellow IIRC.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Three dimensional line striping on a recently reconstructed section of highway in eastern Ontario

[The High Plains Traveler]

I observed this widely separated stripe on U.S. 83 north of Laredo. (And one other location in Texas too, TX-4 east of Brownsville). It appears to be like this to provide a "mini-median" to separate the oncoming lanes on this highway with heavy truck traffic. I thought I had a shot in a zone where passing both directions was allowed but I didn't; in that zone, there are two broken yellow stripes separated by this same distance (I estimate about two feet). As noted above, the MUTCD doesn't specify a line separation so this probably isn't non-compliant.

[Alps]

I observed this widely separated stripe on U.S. 83 north of Laredo. (And one other location in Texas too, TX-4 east of Brownsville). It appears to be like this to provide a "mini-median" to separate the oncoming lanes on this highway with heavy truck traffic. I thought I had a shot in a zone where passing both directions was allowed but I didn't; in that zone, there are two broken yellow stripes separated by this same distance (I estimate about two feet). As noted above, the MUTCD doesn't specify a line separation so this probably isn't non-compliant.

Australia does this on its busiest roads, and in at least one stretch of National Route 1 has a bunch of signs explaining that you can pass whenever the broken line is on your side (graphic of broken and/or solid lines with a wide space between).

[pctech]

Here in Louisiana they put the pavement markers inside the double yellow lines...either a double line or a single line. I'm not sure what kind of pavement paint they use. They have a tendency to let it totally wear off the pavement until they repaint!

[averill]

I observed this widely separated stripe on U.S. 83 north of Laredo. (And one other location in Texas too, TX-4 east of Brownsville). It appears to be like this to provide a "mini-median" to separate the oncoming lanes on this highway with heavy truck traffic. I thought I had a shot in a zone where passing both directions was allowed but I didn't; in that zone, there are two broken yellow stripes separated by this same distance (I estimate about two feet). As noted above, the MUTCD doesn't specify a line separation so this probably isn't non-compliant.

Australia does this on its busiest roads, and in at least one stretch of National Route 1 has a bunch of signs explaining that you can pass whenever the broken line is on your side (graphic of broken and/or solid lines with a wide space between).

There is something similar to this on the 7 mile bridge in the Florida Keys'.  I agree that I think this is done to help separate the two flows of traffic on that very long two lane bridge.