Innovative, Unique, or Strange Lane Markings

[kphoger]

Another thing with this situation is what happens after the right lane ends: https://goo.gl/maps/RTXYNKwdEdngZGe36.

I've never understood why some jurisdictions use a dotted lane line up to the point where the lane completely disappears.

I dislike it as well, but it is an option specifically described in the MUTCD (Figure 3B-9) for use at on-ramps.

I do like when they are used at merges, as it reduces the legal ambiguity of who has right-of-way ...

Not necessarily.  For example, Illinois state law puts equal responsibility on both drivers at a merge:

Vehicles

625 ILCS 5 – Illinois Vehicle Code

Article IX – Right-of-Way

Sec. 11-905 – Merging traffic – Notwithstanding the right-of-way provision in Section 11-901 of this Act, at an intersection where traffic lanes are provided for merging traffic the driver of each vehicle on the converging roadways is required to adjust his vehicular speed and lateral position so as to avoid a collision with another vehicle.

I pointed this fact out to |Crash_It| a couple of years ago.

[jakeroot]

Reviving this for something rare.

WSDOT's new diverging diamond interchange in Dupont, along I-5, has the extremely rare "yield ahead" pavement marking. See the far left edge of the photo:


New I-5 diverging diamond interchange in DuPont by Washington State Dept of Transportation, on Flickr

In the 11th edition of the MUTCD, it is shown under section 3B.22, option #10, and figure 3B-20.

Google Maps link, though as of writing it is far from being viewable there.

[Scott5114]

And yet, no sharktooth yield line!

[jakeroot]

And yet, no sharktooth yield line!

Indeed. I guess they decided an edge extension marking acting as a yield line was sufficient.

The whole approach, with the yield triangle and dashed white line along the shoulder, is very...European.

[pderocco]

Reviving this for something rare.

WSDOT's new diverging diamond interchange in Dupont, along I-5, has the extremely rare "yield ahead" pavement marking. See the far left edge of the photo:


https://flic.kr/p/2s3Z7Ho

In the 11th edition of the MUTCD, it is shown under section 3B.22, option #10, and figure 3B-20.

Google Maps link, though as of writing it is far from being viewable there.

Is that a new addition? I wonder if the next edition will have a white octagonal alternative to STOP AHEAD.

[jakeroot]

Is that a new addition? I wonder if the next edition will have a white octagonal alternative to STOP AHEAD.

Funny you'd ask about that, as I researched it last night. I don't know when it was introduced, but it's been in every version of the MUTCD since 2000. Versions before that, I cannot find copies of.

I know of two old examples:

The first is in Hawaii, right off the H1 at Dole and Wilder (Street View). It was installed at least 20 years ago.

The second is the series of roundabouts along I-70 in the Colorado Rockies. Both Avon and Vail installed some roundabouts in the late 90s. Images from then are hard to find, but early 2000s aerial imagery (also here in Avon) shows the yield triangles in use approaching the roundabouts.

[jay8g]

The whole approach, with the yield triangle and dashed white line along the shoulder, is very...European.

The hatched areas between two lanes going in the same direction (left end of the new bridge) also look like something from the UK (though I suspect it's there to accommodate large truck turning movements rather than controlling lane changes as their "tiger tail" areas are for).

[jakeroot]

The whole approach, with the yield triangle and dashed white line along the shoulder, is very...European.

The hatched areas between two lanes going in the same direction (left end of the new bridge) also look like something from the UK (though I suspect it's there to accommodate large truck turning movements rather than controlling lane changes as their "tiger tail" areas are for).

That's definitely the case. This is a very tight DDI because of the base boundary and train tracks, so there's a ton of dead space in the "curb to curb" left turns to accommodate large trucks; a huge rural DDI with long sweeping turns (a la I-90/WA-18), this is not.

I think a more old fashioned design would have had both lanes along the outside edge of the turn, widened way out, with a large inside shoulder. But I like this design more.

Side-note: I don't think these are all permanent markings. Some aspects, yes, but I think the edge markings are temporary.

[Tendies]

Not sure if this counts but it throws me off each time I see it...

Two way left turn lane becomes a right turn lane:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ZvMDHyxp9m4NUkd7?g_st=ic

Another interesting find here... just a little east at the US-60/I-264 interchange, the ramp from I-264N splits, where the leftmost lanes turn right across the entire road and land directly into the left turn lanes onto KY-146, which also happens to be road mentioned where the center turn lane becomes a right turn lane. Never seen this kind of setup before.

[jakeroot]

Not sure if this counts but it throws me off each time I see it...

Two way left turn lane becomes a right turn lane:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ZvMDHyxp9m4NUkd7?g_st=ic

Another interesting find here... just a little east at the US-60/I-264 interchange, the ramp from I-264N splits, where the leftmost lanes turn right across the entire road and land directly into the left turn lanes onto KY-146, which also happens to be road mentioned where the center turn lane becomes a right turn lane. Never seen this kind of setup before.

Regarding that double right turn into the left turn lanes (onto KY-146); I don't think such a setup is too uncommon. I've seen it mostly with diamond off-ramps where there is a slip lane and a nearby left turn. The slip lane bypasses the intersection (theoretically anyways), but drivers can turn right at the signal as well to reach the left turn. Often times, there are flex posts or concrete barriers blocking traffic from using the slip lane and then sliding over to reach the left turn.

Examples:

I-5/Martha Lake interchange in Lynnwood, WA: https://maps.app.goo.gl/L8R1px5WH3TVR8dC6

I-5/Smokey Point interchange (right turn at the signal enters the HOV ramp meter bypass lane): https://maps.app.goo.gl/zi61pSsjuj3bNXvh9

[Tendies]

Not sure if this counts but it throws me off each time I see it...

Two way left turn lane becomes a right turn lane:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ZvMDHyxp9m4NUkd7?g_st=ic

Another interesting find here... just a little east at the US-60/I-264 interchange, the ramp from I-264N splits, where the leftmost lanes turn right across the entire road and land directly into the left turn lanes onto KY-146, which also happens to be road mentioned where the center turn lane becomes a right turn lane. Never seen this kind of setup before.

Regarding that double right turn into the left turn lanes (onto KY-146); I don't think such a setup is too uncommon. I've seen it mostly with diamond off-ramps where there is a slip lane and a nearby left turn. The slip lane bypasses the intersection (theoretically anyways), but drivers can turn right at the signal as well to reach the left turn. Often times, there are flex posts or concrete barriers blocking traffic from using the slip lane and then sliding over to reach the left turn.

Examples:

I-5/Martha Lake interchange in Lynnwood, WA: https://maps.app.goo.gl/L8R1px5WH3TVR8dC6

I-5/Smokey Point interchange (right turn at the signal enters the HOV ramp meter bypass lane): https://maps.app.goo.gl/zi61pSsjuj3bNXvh9

Oh yeah I've seen split right turns where one is a slip lane and the other isn't. It's not necessarily a common setup but it does exist. Although the example I pointed out is a very extreme example, the fundamental setup is the same.

Another example is I-40 and US-93 in Kingman, although this one likely won't last much longer as the whole interchange is getting reconstructed. Here's an example where one lane is green and the other is red. From the setup it looks like the slip lane only turns red in the rare case a pedestrian tries to cross.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Krd5mjFRQugjCn7j7

And here's CA-78 at CA-86 near Brawley. There's a proper transition ramp from CA-78 West to CA-86 N, but there's an additional option to make that turn at the light.
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9994952,-115.5888122,163m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQxMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I remember seeing a quadruple right split into two double rights posted on this forum many years back but I couldnt find it again. It's not the one in philly.

[7/8]

The pavement markings for this bridge on 22 Side Road in Limehouse, ON are very strange. There's a single solid yellow edge line on the west side of the bridge, and a double solid yellow edge line on the east side. It reminds me of the UK/Ireland!




I checked the OTM Book 11 (Ontario's design manual for pavement markings) and Figure 9 on page 43 shows that a single white edge line should be on each side of the bridge (which is what I expected).

[Tendies]

Irvine, CF: Here's an example of the Caltrans Quad Yellow used on a surface street. I-405 NB exit ramp at MacArthur Blvd has a slip right into a segregated lane into a second slip right immediately after. This bypass lane is separated by the quad yellow (and a solid white for technical reasons). After the second slip right, the lane restriction ends, and cars can either exit to continue eastbound on Main St, or remain in lane to take a THIRD slip right into what appears to be some kind of cushy office district with a garguantuan parking garage.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KMhX2YNXJajUhKC1A

Also along MacArthur Blvd in Irvine, this one was only cool enough for a single set of double yellows. It looks like they tried to make a virtual slip right. The previous configuration was a 5 section right turn PPLT, but that was replaced with a standard 3 section head around 2017. Note the "Right turn on red OK after stop" sign in the corner of the frame.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kZfF6zEUbXtAr8wx7

[pderocco]

I mentioned these lines in some other thread months ago, but it probably belongs here. Caltrans did some novel striping on the notoriously dangerous CA-67 north of Lakeside, with four yellow lines, two on either side of the tubular markers. What I found interesting is how, at every occasional driveway, there is a break in the double line on the side away from the driveway. This seems a reasonable design, but I don't see any mention of it in the CA MUTCD. Is this a thing in any other state?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6g7QgJzgQn8tcgGc9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GPQDVmuEQpLG6iK3A

[Tendies]

Caltrans double yellow + white used to demarcate a dedicated bus only lane in the median of E St in San bernardino:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WnEB1ks6Zx2bJPut9

I saw another example in the same area while google touring a few years back but couldnt find it again sadly.

[jakeroot]

Caltrans double yellow + white used to demarcate a dedicated bus only lane in the median of E St in San bernardino:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WnEB1ks6Zx2bJPut9

I saw another example in the same area while google touring a few years back but couldnt find it again sadly.

Makes me wonder the legal requirements if the municipality considers there to be three different roadways here. If the busway is considered its own road, it would stand to reason the parallel "one way" roads on either side would have yellow lines along the left edge. Double yellow lines still seem beyond the MUTCD, though.

[Tendies]

Caltrans double yellow + white used to demarcate a dedicated bus only lane in the median of E St in San bernardino:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WnEB1ks6Zx2bJPut9

I saw another example in the same area while google touring a few years back but couldnt find it again sadly.

Makes me wonder the legal requirements if the municipality considers there to be three different roadways here. If the busway is considered its own road, it would stand to reason the parallel "one way" roads on either side would have yellow lines along the left edge. Double yellow lines still seem beyond the MUTCD, though.

This is exactly how California marked carpool lanes until about 15 years ago, with many examples still in place throughout the LA area. Though usually they used quad yellows for those, double yellows were occasionally used instead. California also sometimes marks the left edge of the roadway with double yellows rather than single yellows, and the white line on the inside is only a legal technicality to permit driving on the left side of the double yellow.
Here's an example of double yellow used to mark the left shoulder of a weird pseudo-freeway in San Diego: https://maps.app.goo.gl/i2Za2TCivHShcuiq5

[kphoger]

Strange:  this dotted line in Wichita Falls, which doesn't actually delineate a lane.

[The_Ginger]

Strange:  this dotted line in Wichita Falls, which doesn't actually delineate a lane.

I don't see the point of that at all. As per a traffic law that was discussed around here recently, one solid line is meant to "discourage" crossing. So what's the point of making a half-lane there if it's just going to end anyway? I personally think it needs to be restriped to a larger gore area.

Even if it is meant to be a start of a future 4-lane, you could still just drop the EXIT ONLY lane and have traffic exit off of the highway "traditionally".

[kphoger]

I also think that this dotted line near me in Wichita is rather unique, and I'm not quite sure what else to think of it.

[pderocco]

Strange:  this dotted line in Wichita Falls, which doesn't actually delineate a lane.

It looks to me like the solid line was added later. They should have made it into a normal gore with diagonal lines.

[pderocco]

I also think that this dotted line near me in Wichita is rather unique, and I'm not quite sure what else to think of it.

I wouldn't call it unique. I've seen that kind of use of small dotted lines. The idea is that you don't want people to drift over there, unaware that they're headed for left turn lanes, but you want to let people who are turning left know that they're allowed to move over to get out of the mainline traffic.

[Rothman]

Strange:  this dotted line in Wichita Falls, which doesn't actually delineate a lane.

Looks like an escape lane for people who got off at the wrong exit.

[kphoger]

It looks to me like the solid line was added later.

But here is 2007 imagery, looking back the other direction:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/YuS3oBqnkh7fKacw9

[Scott5114]

Strange:  this dotted line in Wichita Falls, which doesn't actually delineate a lane.

I don't see the point of that at all. As per a traffic law that was discussed around here recently, one solid line is meant to "discourage" crossing. So what's the point of making a half-lane there if it's just going to end anyway? I personally think it needs to be restriped to a larger gore area.

Even if it is meant to be a start of a future 4-lane, you could still just drop the EXIT ONLY lane and have traffic exit off of the highway "traditionally".

It looks to me like the onramp from Brook Avenue is close enough to the offramp from Taft that people were having trouble getting out of the lane on time, so TxDOT striped it that way to give them a place to go rather than forcing them to get off at Taft.