It may be hard to believe, but car ownership was once well beyond most Americans’ financial means. The concepts developed by Ransom Olds and Henry Ford for manufacturing cars with standardized parts on assembly lines reduced the time and cost of production, allowing them to charge less for their automobiles and giving more people the ability to own their cars. By the end of World War I, about 6 million automobiles were chugging around American cities and towns. Although there were some limited experiments with pavement markings and parking lot striping during the 1910s, accidents were commonplace. The first road markings were intended to enhance safety. Safety is still an essential part of road and parking lot markings, but the methods used to convey vital information have changed over the years.
How Do Road Markings Differ From the Markings Used in a Parking Lot Design?
Whether used for roads or parking lots, some markings have identical meanings. For example, an arrow that points to the right always means that you may turn right, and it may indicate that you must turn right. However, there are some markings you will only find on one or the other pavement type. To illustrate, it would be remarkably unusual to find an interstate shield painted on a parking lot pavement. It would be equally remarkable to see a marking designating a handicapped-accessible parking space on a highway pavement. Stop bars, which are wide, white lines placed perpendicular to traffic, mean the same thing on any pavement. They tell you where your vehicle should stop. With or without signs, gates, or words, you can find stop bars near intersections, stop signs or traffic signals, railroad crossings, loading zones, or crosswalks.
What Do Yellow Lines on Pavements Mean?
Parking lot maintenance contractors frequently use yellow lines to show the boundaries of individual parking spaces, but they may also use straight yellow lines to draw attention to islands within the lot or diagonal yellow lines to indicate a no-parking area at the end of a parking aisle. On highways and streets, yellow lines can convey a variety of messages.
• A broken yellow centerline tells you that you are traveling on a roadway with two-way traffic. If the centerline consists of two solid yellow lines, passing is illegal for drivers moving in either direction. However, if there is also a dotted yellow line beside the solid one, drivers in the lane containing the dotted line are permitted to pass.
• A solid yellow line on the left of the pavement marks a divider or median. It can also help identify a one-way street.
• A center lane with a solid yellow and broken yellow line down each edge is a turn lane. Traffic moving in either direction can use this lane to make left turns.
• Traffic lanes that have double broken lines on each side are reversible lanes. Reversible lanes are primarily found in large cities that need to improve the flow of traffic during peak hours or special events.
What Do White Lines on Pavements Mean?
Like yellow lines, white lines can convey many messages when they appear on a roadway.
• If the road has more than one lane that carries traffic in the same direction, broken white lines are used to define lane boundaries.
• Two solid lines tell you that crossing them is prohibited.
• One solid white line tells you that crossing it is discouraged. These lines can mark a highway’s shoulder, separate a mandatory turn lane from a through lane, or mark the edge of a highway that has no shoulder. With or without additional markings, a solid white line may be used to denote acceleration or deceleration lanes.
If you have additional questions about pavement markings, contact the experts at MH Greeson. Whether you need parking lot repair, asphalt sealcoating, traffic signs, asphalt crack repair, bollard installation, asphalt patching, pavement marking, asphalt striping, car stops, or parking lot striping, we can help. We serve most parts of North Georgia from our headquarters in Marietta. We have an immaculate reputation for exceptional craftsmanship and superior customer service, but our rates are surprisingly affordable. To request a free quote, fill out the online form; you can also call us at 770-335-2983.
