Lane closed ahead: Merge now, or at the sign?

bright eyed said:
people won't even let you in whatever point down here anyway - even if you've been signalling and have half your bumper in the lane - you have nudge your way in...it's awful!
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I used to drive a cab so I find this amusing rather than stressful. I do worry about road rage from some of the people who believe that God has ordained merging early as a better practice than merging at the merge point. >:D
 
donheff said:
I do worry about road rage from some of the people who believe that God has ordained merging early as a better practice than merging at the merge point. >:D
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That sums it up well.

Merging early to prevent a backup is great. When it starts to fail, and traffic begins to back up, God has ordained that merging late is the preferred practice.

Some of the more self-righteous don't pickup on the switch, and get pretty hot about it.
 
rgarling said:
That sums it up well.

Merging early to prevent a backup is great. When it starts to fail, and traffic begins to back up, God has ordained that merging late is the preferred practice.

Some of the more self-righteous don't pickup on the switch, and get pretty hot about it.
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How about merging a quarter of a mile after the end of the lane? Those are the only ones I used to get hot about... but if God ordained it, then I guess I don't care either.
 
When traffic in the through lane is stopped dead and traffic is wide open and flying in the merging lane for a couple of miles, I'm pulling into the merging lane. Usually there is some overly kind soul who has stopped the through lane to let ALL the merging people in front of him or her, or some slow driver who is maintaining a ridiculously long interval ahead. And I know because I have ridden with this person.

It seems to me that the merge point is where the merging should be done. Otherwise the traffic engineers would move it to an earlier point.
 
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I bet there's a traffic engineer out there right now laughing at all you laymen trying to decipher this problem! :)
 
The funny thing about that Bostonist Rant is that he shows the picture of how it ought to happen ("zipper" merge, everyone alternating at the end point), but he did it the total opposite way, merging at a random early point.
 
RunningBum said:
None of those links cover the topic of the thread, which is traffic merging when a lane is closed ahead (not merging onto a freeway).
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Yes indeed.
Accessing and exiting from a freeway is a whole different set of rules where the merger has the responsibility to prevent accidents and ensure through flow of freeway traffic.

In fact, California has the right idea with their stop lights to control access to the merging lanes so as not to impede freeway flow. A simple yet effective idea. Whenever I encounter plugged freeways elsewhere, I always wish they were as smart as the California traffic engineers.

Of course their efficiency has contributed to excessive loading of all their freeways. Suddenly they are more like merges at rush hour.
 
If God had anything to do with it, wouldn't the traffic part, like the Red Sea... :p
 
HFWR said:
If God had anything to do with it, wouldn't the traffic part, like the Red Sea... :p
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Traffic is His punishment for our sins.

(By the way, this is the first time I have ever mixed theological thought with traffic engineering thought)
 
FUEGO said:
Traffic is His punishment for our sins.

(By the way, this is the first time I have ever mixed theological thought with traffic engineering thought)
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We must've done something to really tick him off, then... :p

I rarely have a theological thought, and only think about traffic when forced to...
 
Lived in North Florida (referred to as South Georgia). Never heard of that law and in practice it was a "war" to get through before the other guy/gal. We even had idiots actually shooting at each other during rush hour traffic through Orange Park FL for a while.
 
R Wood said:
Lived in North Florida (referred to as South Georgia). Never heard of that law and in practice it was a "war" to get through before the other guy/gal. We even had idiots actually shooting at each other during rush hour traffic through Orange Park FL for a while.
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Too many crime shows on TV. Gotta get back to "Little House on the Prairie" type shows to restore family values...
 
Texas Proud said:
Same here for Texas.... cutting is not good...


And if I see someone who bypassed all the considerate people to try and cut... I will block him off myself...
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DOT studies show that the most efficient way to get the traffic through the lane closure is to use all available pavement, meaning use the closed lane. DFW has more people taking the closed lane all the way and I see fewer drivers who would try the "cutoff" manuever. In Houston, they say if it's all veteran Houstonites, it's like a symphony as they alternate right at the merger, smooth as silk.
 
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Gazingus said:
DOT studies show that the most efficient way to get the traffic through the lane closure is to use all available pavement, meaning use the closed lane. DFW has more people taking the closed lane all the way and I see fewer drivers who would try the "cutoff" manuever. In Houston, they say if it's all veteran Houstonites, it's like a symphony as they alternate right at the merger, smooth as silk.
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Yup. The worst situation is when the merge lane is clear for a thousand yards but some "considerate" early merger decides to slow down and try to merge with the clogged "open" lane. A "merge earlier still" believer in the open lane then starts fighting with early merger and prevents him from getting in. He zooms ahead 50 yards and repeats. Again and again. Now the rest of us in the merge lane are steaming and reaching for our side-arms. :bat:

I really need to work on this. I am a totally laid back type in virtually every situation except traffic where I turn type A. :rant: Something about being a former cabbie, or just incipient psychosis?
 
Harry the traffic engineer comes to the rescue...

FUEGO said:
I bet there's a traffic engineer out there right now laughing at all you laymen trying to decipher this problem! :)
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According to a transportation research paper published in January:

"The late merge traffic control strategy has been proposed as a way to improve flow at work zone lane closures by maximizing queue storage space and creating more orderly merging. The late merge instructs drivers to use all lanes to the work zone taper and then take turns proceeding through the work zone. There is little information available on when the late merge should be used, however, and a limited understanding of the factors that influence its performance.

"This paper discusses the results of a simulation study of the late merge concept using microscopic traffic simulation. The late merge concept was evaluated by comparing it to traditional traffic control using a full factorial analysis. Results of the computer simulations showed that the late merge produced a statistically significant increase in throughput volume versus the traditional merge for the 3-to-1 lane closure configuration across all combinations of analysis factors. Although the 2-to-1 and 3-to-2 configurations did not show significant improvement in throughput overall, it was found that as the percentage of heavy vehicles increased, the late merge did foster higher throughput volumes than traditional traffic control.

"The results of the simulations indicate that the late merge may not provide as much of a benefit as previous studies had indicated and that the area of application for the late merge may be limited to situations where heavy vehicles comprise more than 20 percent of the traffic stream."


 
MODERATOR!! Harry introduced actual modeling results into our hitherto unpolluted stream of random conjecture!^-^

Thanks for the information. Still, I wonder if the model accounted for traffic slowdown as rubberneckers watch the guy who zoomed to the end of the closing lane get beat with a tire iron.
 
SecondCor521 said:
This still bugs me but I'm working on letting it go.
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As I drive to my favorite surf break, others buzz by at 15-20 mph above the speed limit. I let it go because they must be rushing to get to work...
 
I got swept up in some fast traffic going opposite rush hour today, and backed off about 1/2 mile before I saw a motorcycle cop merge on and almost immediately flipped his lights on to pull over the pickup I'd been following.
 
I used to be a type a road-rager. Then I realized that, if someone felt the need to drive like an idiot, then they probably had to get to something that they at least felt was more important than my safety. Since I'm generally just on my way to work or running errands, I'm in no hurry. Turns out there's just as much work to do at 8:30 versus 8:00.
 
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