Yellow Lines Become Wobbly

Status: Strange phenomenon
image The residents of Aqueduct Street have an unusual problem. Their lines are going wobbly. Specifically, the double yellow lines on their road. When the city laid down the lines earlier this month, they were straight. But now they've begun to take off in random directions. At first some suspected the work of a prankster, but apparently the truth is much more sinister: The lines are doing this of their own accord!

This idea really appeals to me. Double yellow lines get fed up with being straight and decide to rebel. What we are seeing in Aqueduct Street might merely be the beginning. What if it became a worldwide epidemic of wandering lines? But the government, as usual, has decided to cover up the truth and is blaming the wobbly lines on the use of yellow marker tape. Says a Preston Council spokesman:
"We have had to use yellow marker tape for the double yellow lines, which will not damage the road surface when it's removed. This type of marker tape has been used in the past and we've never had any problems, but some of the tape on Aqueduct Street came loose towards the end of last week, which meant the yellow lines were no longer straight."
A likely story.

Places

Posted on Tue Jun 20, 2006


Comments

I've seen similar 'drift' before, though not to that degree. Most likely, the marking tape was improperly applied, or conditions weren't right for applying it. Also, most of the 'tape' styles of applied lines are for temporary use, as they really aren't very durable under high traffic conditions.

There are some that are applied *like* tapes, but are very thick and heavy, almost a quarter inch thick for limit lines. Those are usually applied with a heated process; literally melted into the pavement, with reflective powder sprinkled upon them.
Posted by Robin Bobcat  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  01:02 AM
I
Posted by Unfairly Balanced  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  01:27 AM
You know I won't be able to sleep at night now. I'll be constantly on the look out for vengeful lines :gulp:
Posted by Nettie  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  05:31 AM
I think I saw this movie... "The Lines" with Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor.
Posted by Wobbly  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  06:55 AM
I once saw lines like this late at night while driving home from great party! The lines were straight the next day though. (That was in my younger days. I don't do stuff like that anymore.)
Posted by Captain Al  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  08:32 AM
I'm researching this right now. I'm about to conclude that this is a government conspiracy. When you find the wandering yellow lines, you can also find chemtrails in the air (the govt. says they are just normal contrails from airplanes, but we know better!!)

It seems the chemicals from the chemtrails (used to control the population) have the opposite affect on yellow lines - they become uncontrollable. 😊 😊 😊
Posted by Logic Fan  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  10:53 AM
You know, that would make a great short story--or a children's book. For a short story, you could make it all sinister and sci-fi, and for a children's book, goofy and clever. What a neat idea!
Posted by Aubrey  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  11:02 AM
There's a street in the neighborhood next to mine where the center lines look even worse that this for about a half-mile. They cross over each other and cross the road and everything.

I've never checked, so it might be tape, but either way (whether the tape moved or the person painting them really messed up) the lines have been there for more than two years and no ones done anything, so I dunno.
Posted by luckygerbils  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  12:22 PM
aww, that's so cute!

Okay, I admit it, Every night I go up there and paint over the origional lines and slowly but surely mess them up more and more. Don't tell anyone!
Posted by thunder  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  01:57 PM
We have a road near here where the guy driving the line-painting truck apparently had too much beer on his lunch break or something like that. The lines get sort of zig-zagy for a bit, and then gradually veer off the road, across the shoulder, and off into the grass.

They went back and re-painted the lines, but didn't bother to get rid of the original ones. So there's now one set of lines that goes down the middle of the road, and one that goes off into the underbrush. It's interesting to watch drivers unfamiliar with that road get all confused and start to drive off into the fields.

And people wonder why our roads are ranked as some of the worst in the nation.
Posted by Accipiter  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  07:58 PM
I thought that tape was only for temporary situations (like construction zones).

Anyway, it sticks to some surfaces better than others. So don't blame the tape; it's the asphalt!

(Get it?)
Posted by JoeDaJuggler  on  Thu Jun 22, 2006  at  09:48 AM
They used that kind of tape on a street near me when they were resurfacing a portion of the road. When they were finished, they burned it off, and there was an indentation left. You can still see where the lines were.
Posted by lynn  on  Fri Jun 30, 2006  at  09:21 AM
These tape lines are frequent on interstate and other high traffic roads. I have seen it wander on many roads, and peel off re sticking to another portion of the road.
Posted by Matt  on  Sun Jul 16, 2006  at  06:22 PM
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