These yellow lines, when on the driver's side of the black center stripe, mean that sight distance ahead is too limited to permit safe passing of other vehicles in the same direction and thus designate "no-passing zones" on the state highway. Introduced as an experiment by the state highway commission in 1935, use of the yellow line has become a part of the standard marking of roads in the state system which carry a heavy volume of traffic.
Originally yellow paint was used to mark the no-passing zones but the resulting line was difficult to see at night and frequently motorists found themselves across the yellow line on curves or grades. Now the yellow line has been made visible for night drivers by mixing tiny glass beads with a specially prepared paint, resulting in a line which glows under the approaching headlights and warns the driver that he is entering a no-passing zone.
In applying the reflectorized yellow line, highway engineers have utilized the same machine which they developed for marking the centerline on Indiana highways. A special container is added for the beads and tubes carry these particles of glass into smaller containers from which they are sprinkled onto the freshly-painted yellow line. The equipment makes it possible to apply the beaded line on either side of the center line or on both sides at the same time.
Return to Dunes Highway main page.
Return to top of page.
This page is at https://members.tripod.com/~Ogden_Dunes/duneshwy/rds2.html.
Posted 3 January, 1999. Corrected and reposted 13th April, 2004, after being knocked off-line four years ago.