Mysterious yellow line appears on 23 miles of Florida highway

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Drivers on a stretch of highway in the Jacksonville, Fla., area reported a mysterious yellow line weaving through lanes, and officials said they are still trying to determine its origins.

The yellow line was discovered this week on a 23-mile stretch of southbound Interstate 95, starting at the Acosta Bridge and ending at St. Johns County Road 210 in St. Augustine.

Drivers said the yellow line, which would usually denote a barrier vehicles aren't supposed to cross, weaves in and out of lanes.

"You couldn't not notice it," driver Richard Campbell told First Coast News.

Some travelers raised concerns about safety.

"It's a yellow line with a yellow line on the other side," Richard Albandy told WJXT-TV. "Most people like, especially if they are out of town, they're not really too much looking at if that's the line that goes where they're supposed to go. They are trying to get to their destination."

Florida Department of Transportation officials said they believe the line is the result of paint spilling from a truck, but they have yet to identify the source.

"I don't believe that anybody has taken responsibility for it yet. But we're going to work with whoever we can make sure that that's identified," FDOT Community Outreach Manager Hampton Ray said.

FDOT officials warned operators of self-driving vehicles to switch the feature off while traveling in the area to avoid their vehicles becoming confused.

"We're going to have an operation, where we take a street sweeper, with a wire brush, and we will be going and doing our best to dislodge some of the yellow paint from the roadway," Ray said. "We do not expect this to be the end-all solution."