Lane closed ahead. One great big backup, right?
Not necessarily, says the Washington State Department of Transportation, if you know the right way to merge.
Test your move-over know-how below:
You’re traveling on Interstate 5 when you spot an orange “Lane closed ahead” sign. What’s the right thing to do?
- Merge left as soon as you can after seeing the sign.
- Merge left within 500 feet of the sign.
- Wait until the lane you’re in runs out, and then merge left.
See if you agree with traffic experts on the best way to navigate this season’s construction zones:
Believe it or not, it’s 3. Yep, that last-minute move that leaves polite Northwesterners grumbling is actually the right way to merge.
Traffic studies show that congestion drops dramatically when drivers fill both lanes equally when approaching a closure, keeping them moving roughly at the same speed. Then, within a few car lengths of the lane ending, drivers take turns – folding into the remaining lane like teeth in a zipper.
Done properly, say traffic officials, drivers may not even need to tap the brakes.
The zipper merge reduces backups because it uses more of the pavement rather than increasing congestion by creating mini-choke points as drivers randomly move left.
Washington began urging drivers to use the zipper merge in 2014. States including Missouri and Kansas started pushing it this year.
The only catch is, for the zipper merge to work well, everyone needs to do it.
That said, safety always comes first in a construction zone. If you find yourself in a situation where merging earlier seems the safer choice, do it! And, of course, always keep speeds down in construction zones for the safety of highway maintenance crews and fellow drivers.
From a Pemco Insurance newsletter
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