What color for lane markings on roads in a 1960s or 70s layout?

[6959]

On a 1960s / 1970s USA or Canadian layout, what color (colour even) should be the lines down the middle of two-way highway (no median, divider or whatever it is called locally)?

 

Looking at some mid-1960s USA car videos, all the lines white.

 

In a 1969 car video the 'do not cross' continuous line is yellow yet the dashed line next to it on the other side for traffic coming the other way is white.

 

In a 1970s video all lines are yellow but I have not checked all variations of line (broken and solid, single or double).

[AndrewC]

The rules are simple.

 

white lines divide traffic travelling in the same direction. That means lane dividers and the marking of the right hand shoulder.

yellow lines divide traffic travelling in opposite directions.

 

Of course this has evolved over the years and can vary in some states. There are also different rules for roads with part time lane reversals, middle lane left turn zones, etc.

[Adrian Wintle]

Slight edit.

 

The current rules are simple...

 

There was a transition as 6959 has noted - I believe Canada changed to yellow centre lines earlier than the US did (I have vague memories of a time when there was a difference between the countries).

 

Edit: This https://ceprofs.civi...orEvolution.pdf has some of the background. Yellow lines used to be used to mark the road edges.

 

It looks like double yellow lines came in the 1961 manual, although single centre lines were still white, while yellow centre lines came in the 1971 manual. Expect the actual road painting to have lagged by as much as 5 years, especially in rural areas.

 

Adrian

[JWB]

The rules have been the same since I started driving in the early 1960s. On a straight two-lane bidirectional road with no intersections and no obstructions to vision, there is a single dashed white line down the center. This means that a car going in either direction can pull into the opposite lane to pass another car, as long as it's safe (i.e., enough distance to do this in the face of opposing traffic). If there are curves or other obstructions to vision that make it unsafe for traffic in one direction to pass, there will be a solid yellow line on the side of the centerline for traffic in that direction, with the dashed white line next to it indicating that it's safe for traffic in the other direction to pass. If there are obstructions to vision in both directions, intersections, etc., there will be a double yellow line down the center saying neither lane may pass. On winding roads, the double yellow line can extend for many miles. On low-traffic roads, there will be no markings of any sort. UPDATE: whoops, I double checked, and the standard changed in 1971, with a transition allowed for several years after that. (I guess I just assumed I was always seeing what I saw when I started driving!) So in the 1960s it was how I said, by the late 1970s the center lines were all yellow.

[6959]

Slight edit.

 

 

 

There was a transition as 6959 has noted - I believe Canada changed to yellow centre lines earlier than the US did (I have vague memories of a time when there was a difference between the countries).

 

Edit: This https://ceprofs.civi...orEvolution.pdf has some of the background. Yellow lines used to be used to mark the road edges.

 

It looks like double yellow lines came in the 1961 manual, although single centre lines were still white, while yellow centre lines came in the 1971 manual. Expect the actual road painting to have lagged by as much as 5 years, especially in rural areas.

 

Adrian

 

Thanks for posting the pdf. Just about says it all.

[highpeak]

This site https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ghawkins/MUTCD-History.htm has a lot of information about highways signs and markings in the US.