City officials in Raleigh, North Carolina, have committed to repainting a set of uneven double-yellow lines on South State Street after a local content creator's viral video drew attention to the flawed road markings. The crooked lines, which weave noticeably from side to side, appeared recently on the stretch of road near Interstate 40.
Local content creator Jordan Scott Huggins, known online as @akayoungbeefy, filmed the markings and posted the video to TikTok and Instagram late last week. In the video, Huggins expressed confusion and humor over the lines, joking, "I know drag queens straighter than this." The clip quickly gained traction online.
The City of Raleigh acknowledged the video and confirmed that crews plan to re-stripe the affected section of South State Street this week, depending on weather conditions. City spokesperson Julia Milstead told The News & Observer that the repainting process typically takes two days.
The center lines were installed as part of broader efforts to improve safety and traffic flow on South State Street. Residents had raised safety concerns, leading to the addition of the bike lane, stop sign, and now the center lines. Huggins noted that the street has undergone several changes, including the narrowing of the roadway due to the bike lane, which he believes has contributed to collisions.
Raleigh incurs a cost of approximately $1.20 per foot for double-yellow center lines. It remains unclear how many feet of the crooked lines will need to be replaced or the total cost associated with the correction. The responsibility for painting the erroneous lines is also undetermined, as the city utilizes a combination of municipal workers and external contractors for such projects.
The incident occurred amidst a larger infrastructure project in Raleigh aimed at implementing traffic-calming measures and enhancing neighborhood bikeways. City bidding documents indicate that South State Street was one of 19 locations included in this comprehensive project, which involved numerous improvements such as shared-lane markings, speed cushions, tubular markers, and various pavement markings and signs.
While city contract specifications require contractors to pre-mark their work and obtain engineer approval before final completion, and stipulate that unapproved markings may be removed and replaced at no cost to the city, the documents do not specify whether this contract covered the recent double-yellow lines or identify who was responsible for their improper placement. This situation is not unprecedented; Montgomery Township, Pennsylvania, previously painted deliberately wavy lines to slow motorists, a measure that was eventually removed due to unpopularity. In Raleigh's case, however, the city has opted for correction.