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I always looked forward to the day they painted the new center line on my street when I was a kid. You could hear the painting truck coming for quite a ways. Although the paint was fast drying, the object of the game was to ride your bicycle through the still wet paint, and leave your mark for every other kid to admire for the rest of the summer.
I always thought the fresh markings brightened up the neighborhood. The white dashed lines in between the double yellow lines created a nice bright contrast. The white dashed lines looked great to me, whether they were by themselves, or next to the solid yellow line.
Then one nice warm, sunny, summer morning about 1972 or so, here comes the painting truck. I was horrified to see the white dashed lines eliminated from the middle of the double yellow lines, and worse yet, the white dashed lines replaced by ugly yellow dashed lines!
It was many years before I discovered the reason for this. I still can't believe people can't tell the difference between a two way street and an expressway, and need to look at the center line markings to figure it out.
I think the countryside was a much more beautiful place with white and yellow markings.

Steve,,
I don't believe I can relate to what you're talking about. We have had white and yellow down here for a long, long time. That's the case throughout the state. Even over in the Asheville area.

I do remember when the white line down the center was all you had. It was enough. Now the line is broken in passing zones.

Anyway, it is nice to reflect on things way past.

Do you know that when we remember something, we actually remembering the last time we remember it. It's true.

What do you get when you push a piano down a mine shaft? Ask the missus or your grandchild.

Thanks for posting.
Charlie

I thought this was a nationwide change in the 70's. Here is a quote from wikipedia on the subject.

.[15] The 1971 edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, however, mandated yellow as the standard color of center lines nationwide. The changeover to the 1971 MUTCD standards took place between 1971 and 1975, with most done by the end of 1973, so for two years drivers still had to use the old and new. Yellow was adopted because it was already the standard color of warning signs, and because it was easy to teach drivers to associate yellow lines with dividing opposing traffic and white lines with dividing traffic in the same direction. In turn, this simple mnemonic device greatly reduced head-on collisions and improved road traffic safety.[citation needed]