ROAD

MARKING By

Yusril Yudha Pratama

D100194304

CIVIL ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMDIYAH SURAKARTA
 Meaning Of Road Markings

The road markings are defined as lines, patterns, words

or other devices, except signs, set into applied or
attached to the carriageway or kerbs or to objects
within or adjacent to the carriageway, for controlling,
warning, guiding and informing the users.

Classification Of Road Markings

The road markings are classified as :
1. Longitudinal markings
2. Transverse markings
3. Object markings
4. Word messages
5. Marking for parkings
6. Marking at hazardous locations
A.Longitudinal Marking
Longitudinal markings are placed along the direction of traffic on the roadway surface, for the purpose of indicating to the
driver, his proper position on the roadway.
Some of the guiding principles in longitudinal markings are given below :

The lines can be either broken, solid or double solid. Broken lines are permissive in
1. character and allow crossing with discretion, if traffic situation permits.

Solid lines are restrictive in character and do not allow crossing except for entry or exit
2. from a side road or premises or to avoid a stationary obstruction.

Longitudinal markings are provided for separating traffic flow in the same direction and the
3. predominant colour used is white.

Yellow colour is used to separate the traffic flow in opposite direction and also to separate
4. the pavement edges.

Double solid lines indicate severity in restrictions and should not be crossed except in
5. case of emergency. There can also be a combination of solid and broken lines. In such a
Different types of longitudinal markings are centre line, traffic lanes, no passing zone, warning lines, border or edge
lines, bus lane markings and cycle lane markings.

1. Centre
Line
Centre line separates the opposing streams of traffic and facilitates their movements. Usually
no centre line is provided for roads having width less than 5 m and for roads having more than
four lanes. The centre line may be marked with either single broken line, single solid line,
double broken line, or double solid line depending upon the road and traffic requirements. On
urban roads with less than four lanes, the centre line may be single broken line segments of 3
m long and 150 mm wide. The broken lines are placed with 4.5 m gaps (figure 1).

Figure 1: Centre line marking for a two lane road

 CENTRE LINE

On curves and near intersections, gap shall be reduced to 3 metres. On undivided

urban roads with at least two traffic lanes in each direction, the centre line marking
may be a single solid line of 150 mm wide as in figure  2, or double solid line of 100
mm wide separated by a space of 100 mm as shown in figure 3.

Figure 2: Centre line and lane marking for a Figure 3: Double solid line for a two lane road
four lane road
The centre barrier line marking fr four lane road is shown in figure 4

Figure 4: Centre barrier line marking for four lane road

Traffic lane lines
The subdivision of wide carriageways
into separate lanes on either side of
the carriage way helps the driver to go Figure 5: Lane marking for a four
straight and also curbs the meandering lane road with solid barrier line
tendency of the driver. At intersections,
these traffic lane lines will eliminate
confusion and facilitates turning
movements. Thus traffic lane markings
help in increasing the capacity of the
road in addition ensuring more safety.
The traffic lane lines are normally
single broken lines of 100 mm width.
Some examples are shown in figure 5 Figure 6: Traffic lane marking for
 and figure 6. a four lane road with broken
centre line
 2. NO PASSING ZONES

No passing zones are established on summit curves,

horizontal curves, and on two lane and three lane highways
where overtaking maneuvers are prohibited because of low sight
distance. It may be marked by a solid yellow line along the
centre or a double yellow line.
In the case of a double yellow line, the left hand element
may be a solid barrier line, the right hand may be a either a
broken line or a solid line . These solid lines are also called
barrier lines. When a solid line is to the right of the broken line,
the passing restriction shall apply only to the opposing traffic.
Some typical examples are shown in figure 7 and figure 8.
No Passing Zones

Figure 8

Figure 7

Barrier line marking for a four No passing zone marking at horizontal

lane road curves

In the latter case, the no passing zone is staggered for each direction.
 3. Warning Lines
Warning lines warn the drivers about the
obstruction approaches. They are marked on
horizontal and vertical curves where the visibility is
greater than prohibitory criteria specified for no
overtaking zones. They are broken lines with 6 m
length and 3 m gap. A minimum of seven line
segments should be provided. A typical example is
shown in figure 9

Figure 9: Warning line

marking for a two lane road
 Edge lines indicate edges of rural roads which
have no kerbs to delineate the limits upto which
the driver can safely venture. They should be at
least 150 mm from the actual edge of the
pavement. They are painted in yellow or
white.All the lines should be preferably light
4. reflective, so that they will be visible during night
also.
EDGE
Improved night visibility may also be obtained
LINES by the use of minute glass beads embedded in
the pavement marking materials to produce a
retroreflective surface.
B.TRANSVERSE Marking
Transverse markings are marked across the direction of traffic. They are marked at intersections etc. The site conditions
play a very important role. The type of road marking for a particular intersection depends on several variables such as
speed characteristics of traffic, availability of space etc. Stop line markings, markings for pedestrian crossing, direction
arrows, etc. are some of the markings on approaches to intersections.

1. Stop line

Stop line indicates the position

beyond which the vehicles should
not proceed when required to
stop by control devices like
signals or by traffic police. They
should be placed either parallel to
the intersecting roadway or at
right angles to the direction of
approaching vehicles. An Figure 10: Stop line marking
example for a stop line marking is near an intersection
shown in figure 10.
Marking at intersection
 2. PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS
Pedestrian crossings are provided at places where the conflict between
vehicular and pedestrian traffic is severe. The site should be selected that
there is less inconvenience to the pedestrians and also the vehicles are
not interrupted too much.

At intersections, the pedestrian crossings should be preceded by a stop

line at a distance of 2 to 3m for unsignalized intersections and at a
distance of one metre for signalized intersections. Most commonly used
pattern for pedestrian crossing is Zebra crossing consisting of equally
spaced white strips of 500 mm wide. A typical example of an intersection
illustrating pedestrian crossings is shown in figure 11.

Figure 11: Pedestrian marking

near an intersection
 4.Directional arrows
In addition to the warning lines on approaching
lanes, directional arrows should be used to
guide the drivers in advance over the correct
lane to be taken while approaching busy
intersections. Because of the low angle at
which the markings are viewed by the drivers,
the arrows should be elongated in the
direction of traffic for adequate visibility. The
dimensions of these arrows are also very
important. A typical example of a directional
arrow is shown in figure 12.

Figure 12: Directional arrow

marking
5. Object Marking

Physical obstructions in a carriageway like traffic island or obstructions near

carriageway like signal posts, pier etc. cause serious hazard to the flow of traffic and
should be adequately marked. They may be marked on the objects adjacent to the
carriageway.

1. Objects within the carriageway

The obstructions within the carriageway such as traffic islands, raised medians, etc.
may be marked by not less than five alternate black and yellow stripes. The stripes
should slope forward at an angle of 45  with respect to the direction of traffic. These
stripes shall be uniform and should not be less than 100 m wide so as to provide
sufficient visibility.
 2. Objects Adjacent to Carriageway
Sometimes objects adjacent to the carriageway
may pose some obstructions to the flow of traffic.
Objects such as subway piers and abutments,
culvert head walls etc. are some examples for such
obstructions. They should be marked with alternate
black and white stripes at a forward angle of 45
 with respect to the direction of traffic. Poles close to

the carriageway should be painted in alternate black

and white up to a height of 1.25 m above the road
level.
Other objects such as guard stones, drums,
guard rails etc. where chances of vehicles hitting Figure 13: Marking for objects adjacent to the road way
them are only when vehicle runs off the carriageway
should be painted in solid white. Kerbs of all islands
located in the line of traffic flow shall be painted
with either alternating black and white stripes of 500
mm wide or chequered black and white stripes of
same width. The object marking for central pier and
side walls of an underpass is illustrated in figure 13.
6. WORD Messages
Information to guide, regulate, or warn the road user may also be conveyed by inscription of word
message on road surface. Characters for word messages are usually capital letters. The legends
should be as brief as possible and shall not consist of more than three words for any message.
Word messages require more and important time to read and comprehend than other road
markings. Therefore, only few and important ones are usually adopted. Some of the examples of
word messages are STOP, SLOW, SCHOOL, RIGHT TUN ONLY etc. The character of a road
message is also elongated so that driver looking at the road surface at a low angle can also read
them easily. The dimensioning of a typical alphabet is shown in figure 14.

Figure 14: Typical dimension of the

character T used in road marking
 7. Parking

The marking of the parking space limits on urban roads promotes more efficient
use of the parking spaces and tends to prevent encroachment on places like bus
stops, fire hydrant zones etc. where parking is undesirable. Such parking space
limitations should be indicated with markings that are solid white lines 100 mm
wide. Words TAXI, CARS, SCOOTERS etc. may also be written if the parking
area is specific for any particular type of vehicle. To indicate parking restriction,
kerb or carriage way marking of continuous yellow line 100 mm wide covering
the top of kerb or carriageway close to it may be used.
Marking for Parking Spaces Marking at Bus Stop
 Accessible Parking

The parking should be marked for the

physically challenged at the ratio of 2:25
of the total number of parking. Two
accessible parking lots with overall
minimum dimension of 3600 mm wide
and 5000 mm long ( including aisle
space), should be provided. There shall
be directional signs guiding people to the
accessible parking.
8. Hazardous Location
Wherever there is a change in the
width of the road, or any hazardous
location in the road, the driver should
be warned about this situation with the
help of suitable road markings. Road
markings showing the width transition
in the carriageway should be of 100
mm width. Converging lines shall be
150 mm wide and shall have a taper
length of not less than twenty times
the off-set distance. Typical
carriageway markings showing
transition from wider to narrower
sections and vice-versa is shown in
figure 15. In the figure, the driver is
warned about the position of the pier
through proper road markings.
Function Of Road Marking
The main functions of the road markings are to guide the safe
and smooth flow of traffic in the following ways:

Two lanes to one lane/ lane

Segregation of traffic Direction
traffic

Stop and go Inter-vehicle distance One way

Give way instruction Parking zone or no parking Pedestrian crossing

Overtaking or not Speed indication Type of vehicles allowed

Thank You