June McCarroll
Encyclopedia
June Hill Robertson McCarroll (June 30, 1867—March 30, 1954) was a nurse (later a physician
) with the Southern Pacific Railroad
in the early twentieth century who is credited by Caltrans with the simple but revolutionary idea of delineating highways with a painted line to separate lane
s of traffic
. The concept of painting lines to separate lanes is now in use all over the world.
McCarroll was born and raised in the Adirondacks. She attended a medical college in Chicago, then eventually moved to Southern California
in 1904 with her first husband, John Robertson. They had hoped that the desert climate would help him recuperate from tuberculosis, but Robertson died in 1914. Within two years, she had remarried, this time to Frank McCarroll, the local station manager for the Southern Pacific Railroad. From 1907 to 1916, she was the only physician regularly practicing in the vast desert
between the Salton Sea
and Palm Springs
. She was also the only physician serving the five Indian reservations in the area on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In the fall of 1917, McCarroll was driving on the road leading to her office near Indio, California
on a stretch of highway that would later be incorporated into U.S. Route 99. The highway remains today as part of Indio Boulevard. She was literally run off the road by a truck, as she recalled many years later:
McCarroll soon communicated her idea to the local chamber of commerce and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, with no success. Finally, she took it upon herself to hand-paint a white stripe down the middle of the road, thus establishing the actual width of the lane to prevent similar accidents. Through the Indio Women's Club and many similar women's organizations, McCarroll launched a vigorous statewide letter writing campaign on behalf of her proposal. In November 1924, the idea was adopted by the California Highway Commission
and 3,500 miles of lines were painted at a cost of $163,000. It would not be long before the idea was adopted worldwide.
A memorial plaque to Dr. McCarroll is located at the intersection of Indio Boulevard and Flower Street in Indio, California. On April 24, 2002, to honor her contribution to road safety, California officially designated the stretch of Interstate 10 near Indio east of the Indio Boulevard/Jefferson Street exit as "The Doctor June McCarroll Memorial Freeway." The plaque is located at GPS coordinates 33º43.260 N, 116º13.040 W.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
) with the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
in the early twentieth century who is credited by Caltrans with the simple but revolutionary idea of delineating highways with a painted line to separate lane
Lane
A lane is a part of the roadway within a road marked out for use by a single line of vehicles in such a way as to control and guide drivers for the purpose of reducing traffic conflicts. Most public roads have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by Lane markings...
s of traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
. The concept of painting lines to separate lanes is now in use all over the world.
McCarroll was born and raised in the Adirondacks. She attended a medical college in Chicago, then eventually moved to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
in 1904 with her first husband, John Robertson. They had hoped that the desert climate would help him recuperate from tuberculosis, but Robertson died in 1914. Within two years, she had remarried, this time to Frank McCarroll, the local station manager for the Southern Pacific Railroad. From 1907 to 1916, she was the only physician regularly practicing in the vast desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
between the Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
and Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
. She was also the only physician serving the five Indian reservations in the area on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In the fall of 1917, McCarroll was driving on the road leading to her office near Indio, California
Indio, California
Indio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, and east of Los Angeles. It is about north of Mexicali, Baja California on the U.S.-Mexican border...
on a stretch of highway that would later be incorporated into U.S. Route 99. The highway remains today as part of Indio Boulevard. She was literally run off the road by a truck, as she recalled many years later:
- My Model T FordFord Model TThe Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to May 1927...
and I found ourselves face to face with a truck on the paved highway. It did not take me long to choose between a sandy berth to the right and a ten-ton truck to the left! Then I had my idea of a white line painted down the center of the highways of the country as a safety measure.
McCarroll soon communicated her idea to the local chamber of commerce and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, with no success. Finally, she took it upon herself to hand-paint a white stripe down the middle of the road, thus establishing the actual width of the lane to prevent similar accidents. Through the Indio Women's Club and many similar women's organizations, McCarroll launched a vigorous statewide letter writing campaign on behalf of her proposal. In November 1924, the idea was adopted by the California Highway Commission
California Highway Commission
The California Highway Commission was established in 1895 and continued until 1978 as the primary state highway bureaucracy in California.Their first noticeable efforts centered on the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road over the Sierra Nevada mountains...
and 3,500 miles of lines were painted at a cost of $163,000. It would not be long before the idea was adopted worldwide.
A memorial plaque to Dr. McCarroll is located at the intersection of Indio Boulevard and Flower Street in Indio, California. On April 24, 2002, to honor her contribution to road safety, California officially designated the stretch of Interstate 10 near Indio east of the Indio Boulevard/Jefferson Street exit as "The Doctor June McCarroll Memorial Freeway." The plaque is located at GPS coordinates 33º43.260 N, 116º13.040 W.