MNDOT: Zipper Merge Golden Valley!

With summer construction season in full swing, MNDOT wants local drivers to know the best way to merge lanes. So today, they are starting a campaign to promote the 'zipper merge.'

When a lane is closed in a construction zone, a zipper merge occurs when motorists use both lanes of traffic until reaching the defined merge area, and then alternate in zipper fashion into the open lane.

When most drivers see the first 'lane closed ahead' sign in a work zone, MNDOT says, they slow too quickly and move to the lane that will continue through the construction area. But officials warn that this driving behavior can lead to unexpected and dangerous lane switching, serious crashes and road rage.

Zipper merging, they say, benefits individual drivers as well as the public at large. Research shows that these dangers decrease when motorists use both lanes until reaching the defined merge area and then alternate in zipper fashion into the open lane.

‘So I'm supposed to merge late?’ you ask. And the answer is ‘yes!’

As you see the 'lane closed ahead' sign and traffic backing up, stay in your current lane up to the point of merge. Then take turns with other drivers to safely and smoothly ease into the remaining lane. Don't worry about being 'Minnesota nice.' When traffic is heavy and slow, it is much safer for motorists to remain in their current lane until the point where traffic can orderly take turns merging.

 According to MNDOT, the zipper merge benefits drivers by:

• Reducing differences in speeds between two lanes.
• Reducing the overall length of traffic backup (by as much as 40 percent).
• Reducing congestion on freeway interchanges.
• Creating a sense of fairness and equity that all lanes are moving at the same rate.
• Reducing incidents of road rage.

To see a video on the zipper merge, put out by MNDOT, see the sidebar of this article.