what does this symbol mean?
MUTCD W6-1 A yellow diamond with two lanes separated by an island ahead

Divided highway sign

A yellow diamond showing a road split around a median. It warns that the highway ahead becomes divided, with traffic in each direction separated.

Rules vary by state and country. This explains the sign's standard meaning in the U.S. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices; it isn't legal advice.

How to read it

The MUTCD uses it on the approach to a section of highway where the two directions of traffic are separated by a median or other barrier, not at an intersection. Pennsylvania's manual describes what follows: two one-way roadways with a median or divider between them.

Two different divided highway signs

Pennsylvania's manual shows a second, regulatory DIVIDED HIGHWAY sign, black and white, with a different meaning: the road you are on crosses a divided highway, which is really two one-way roadways. This yellow warning sign is not a substitute for a Keep Right sign at the end of a median island.

More road signs

Sources

Last reviewed September 25, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research

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