Edge lines but no center line?

[hbelkins]

Kentucky's gotten some HSIP money to paint edge lines on a lot of rural roads that don't have center lines.

Personally I always thought this looked rather odd.

Anyone else have any opinions on this?

[jakeroot]

From my experience in Washington, if a road is too thin AND there is a drop on either side of the road, then it only gets shoulders. Though, that's on principle and I have seen plenty of roads without shoulders and with large ditches on either side.

[Roadrunner75]

I agree it looks odd.  Here's an example of this (on a residential street) where I believe the intent is to provide a 'sidewalk' of sorts / pedestrian lane due to the amount of school children who use this street to get to the elementary school.
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=39.928374,-74.204142&spn=0.000033,0.026157&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.928374,-74.204142&panoid=lsyHMtR-k6QLHK6bReuSRw&cbp=12,315.55,,0,4.43

[adventurernumber1]

I agree that it is rather odd. I have never seen any roads like that in person, but it does sound odd. There are PLENTY of roads that have center lines and no edge lines, at least around here. Many times roads that have curbs w/ sidewalks (not major or numbered roads) don't get edge lines.

[ap70621]

Stormont Road (Rt 629) near Hartfield, VA in Middlesex County has edge lines but no center line for a short stretch. That portion however is now closed.

[freebrickproductions]

Riverview Drive on top of Green Mountain in Huntsville, AL has edge lines but no center line for a sizable portion of it:
https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=34.61268,-86.51681&spn=0.000002,0.001032&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=34.61268,-86.51681&panoid=Tv0TSH4sd_AKlEDYC9UQHw&cbp=12,283.08,,0,8.13
https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=34.61186,-86.526205&spn=0.000002,0.001032&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=34.61177,-86.526203&panoid=bz9DYIVIsrmtQKvlvpPC2w&cbp=12,353.62,,0,13.8

[Mapmikey]

VA 80 has this configuration for 1.4 miles a little south of US 19 where it is paved only to secondary road width.

Here is where it starts this heading northbound:
http://goo.gl/maps/BJqeS

VA 91 also has a paved stretch only to secondary standards north of its unpaved segment but it has no striping at all.

VA 43 also has a paved stretch only to secondary standards in the Bedford-Campbell line area but it has a centerline (only)

Pretty sure I've seen other Virginia roads with the edge lines only but don't believe any of those are current primary routes...

Another decent stretch is SR 620 south for 2.8 miles past the Blue Ridge Pkwy/VA 97 area:
http://goo.gl/maps/EuJ4x



Mapmikey

[vdeane]

If I saw a road that has edge lines but not center I'd wonder if it was supposed to be only one lane or something.

[Alex4897]

Black Diamond Road in Smyrna, DE, is configured like this, or at least the portion visible from the DE 1 overpass is.

[cl94]

A lot of town-maintained roads near Buffalo have the setup, Amherst being one of the few towns that doesn't.

[oscar]

If I saw a road that has edge lines but not center I'd wonder if it was supposed to be only one lane or something.

Yes.  I've seen that in Hawaii, on narrow roads with no room for two lanes or shoulders, and dangerous enough (such as with steep dropoffs but no guardrails, or jagged lava close to the pavement edge) that edge lines are crucial even if there isn't room for a regular center line.

But I've also seen a center "fog line", a thin white line in the middle that you can follow to stay on the pavement.  For examples, see http://www.hawaiihighways.com/photos-observatories-roads.htm (near the bottom of the page, re:  the road to the Mauna Loa weather observatory).  Parts of that road have been improved since I last updated the page, and at least one improved section has edge lines replacing the old squiggly center fog line, but it's still one-lane with no shoulders and few safe pullouts.

[Arkansastravelguy]

I want to say VA 40 near Woolwine either the yellow centerline or the white lines would just stop then continue half a mile later and did it quite a few times. We have a few roads here in Southern Benton Co Arkansas that have white outer striping but no center. Puppy Creek and Spring Creek Rds come to mine. They are curvy and remind me of a formula one racetrack

[nexus73]

We have a bit of these fog lines with no center line roads in the Oregon south coast's rural areas.  They are marked that way because the road is too narrow for two-way traffic but the fog line still helps the small amount of traffic out.

Rick

[Roadrunner75]

From my experience in Washington, if a road is too thin AND there is a drop on either side of the road, then it only gets shoulders. Though, that's on principle and I have seen plenty of roads without shoulders and with large ditches on either side.

This made me think of this location on PA 32 where it crosses a one lane bridge:
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=40.570435,-75.133728&spn=0.000008,0.005643&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=40.570429,-75.134871&panoid=rXwxOdAFPTQ9jka7fJfPPg&cbp=12,285.86,,0,12.12
This road is a great drive by the way - actually either side of the Delaware River north of Trenton.

[Milepost61]

CO-82 on the west side of Independence Pass has several sections that are too narrow to be two lanes wide so the centerline ends and only the edge lines are carried through. "Narrow Road, 15 mph" signs precede the segments.

State law is that downhill vehicles yield to uphill vehicles but in my experience people aren't good at following that.

[Mapmikey]

I want to say VA 40 near Woolwine either the yellow centerline or the white lines would just stop then continue half a mile later and did it quite a few times. We have a few roads here in Southern Benton Co Arkansas that have white outer striping but no center. Puppy Creek and Spring Creek Rds come to mine. They are curvy and remind me of a formula one racetrack

Forgot about VA 40...it does have a center line throughout but edge lines are missing in places.

Mapmikey

[Arkansastravelguy]

Puppy Creek Rd in Lowell, AR


iPhone

[roadman65]

This is very interesting to see.  I believe that PR 3 in SE Puerto Rico  also has this climbing over the hills there if I remember correctly.

[Zmapper]

Related article: Removing Center Lines Reduced Speeding on London Streets

TfL recently examined the effect of eliminating center lines on three London streets. The agency found it slowed average driving speeds between 5 and 9 miles per hour, after taking into account the effect of resurfacing.

[vegas1962]

The 20-mile "Tunnel of Trees" portion of M-119 in northern Michigan between Harbor Springs and Cross Village has edge lines but no center line.  The road has no shoulders and in some parts is not wide enough for two full lanes.

[froggie]

Of note:  the MUTCD only requires a centerline if the road has 3+ lanes or has 6,000 or more vehicles a day and at least 20ft in width.  It recommends (but does not require) centerlines for urban roads over 4,000 vpd and rural roads at least 18ft in width that have over 3,000 vpd.

Section 3B.07 give similar requirement criteria for edge lines (along with all freeways and expressways, regardless of vpd), and also mentions that edge lines can be placed with or without a centerline.

A few municipalities in the Twin Cities area are testing this as a way to create what they call "advisory bike lanes" along some residential and collector streets.