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.