Road Markings/Verge Lines

Verge Lines are the white lines painted alongside the edges of roads to indicate to traffic where the edge of the roadway is. However, they come in a number of forms and are not always at the actual edge of the tarmac! They are predominantly used on roads without kerbs, in order to highlight the safe edge of the road.

Standard Verge Lines

The standard verge line is a thickly painted white line running parallel to the edge of the tarmac a couple of inches into the road way. They are used on two way roads over a certain width (there needs to be sufficient room between the verge line and the Centre Line for traffic to pass), and also on Single Track Roads, but rarely on narrow S2 roads. The exception is where a specific hazard, such as a narrow bridge, needs to be highlighted. In most cases they are painted with standard paint, but increasingly on busier roads the rougher paint effect as used on Hard Shoulder Lines on Motorways is being used, to alert drivers who are crossing the line.

On wider roads, especially WS2 routes, the verge line is painted a couple of feet in from the edge of the tarmac. This narrows the apparent width of the road for drivers, perhaps preventing overtaking by straddling the white line between passing traffic, but more importantly provides a mini hard shoulder for stranded vehicles to use.

Verge lines are also sometimes applied to the gutters of busy main roads, so duplicating the visual guide of the kerb. This is particularly common where for whatever reason the kerb itself is less than obvious at night or in poor weather conditions.

Dashed Verge Lines

Verge lines are often broken for short distances. This is predominantly to highlight an access, such as a farm gate or house drive, which does not warrant a full Give Way Line to be installed. Dashed lines are also used, albeit often of double thickness, to span Laybys and indeed turning lanes, although these are a cross between dashed verge lines and give way markings.

Different lengths of dashes seem to be used to indicate different things, although their precise meaning is not commonly understood!

Cycle Lanes

On many roads, particularly in urban areas, on street cycle lanes have been installed. These typically use unbroken verge lines to separate them from the main carriageway, with the line painted in the existing traffic lane. Where this results in the traffic lane becoming narrower than is desirable, the line may be painted as a series of long dashes, providing a cycle lane and a narrow traffic lane. It is intended that traffic straddles the dashed cycle lane line, with the line only being used to make drivers aware that cyclists commonly use the road. However, in practice the lines seem to have caused more confusion and do not seem to be being replaced when they wear out or the road gets resurfaced.

False pavements

Another use of a verge line is to create a 'false' pavement, particularly along narrow village roads. Often used in conjunction with a strip of contrastingly coloured tarmac, they provide a space for pedestrians where the installation of a proper pavement would greatly hinder traffic.