A ghost island is a flush road marking that uses a painted outline and internal chevron or diagonal hatching to exclude vehicles from a specific area of the pavement. Traffic engineers use them to safely separate opposing flows of traffic, narrow a lane to reduce speeds, or create a protected pocket for vehicles waiting to make a turn. Because they are painted rather than raised, emergency vehicles can drive over them if necessary.
Heard on the job
The new layout includes a ghost island to protect the right-turn lane and keep through traffic moving.
Also heard as
- painted island
- hatched marking
Do not mix it up with
- Traffic island: A traffic island is a raised physical barrier, while a ghost island is only painted on the road surface.