Ghost island

A ghost island is a United Kingdom highway term referring to a central area of a single carriageway road that is hatched with paint to indicate that vehicles should not enter except in case of emergency. Ghost islands are frequently used at junctions to discourage overtaking and to provide space for turning traffic to wait. They are also sometimes used for longer sections where a road is exceptionally wide (e.g. where it has been converted from three lanes to two), in order to discourage vehicles from using the additional space to overtake in the face of oncoming traffic.