Message Monday - Teamwork makes the merge work
We get it. The big orange sign alerting you to upcoming road construction isn’t what you want to see as you travel. But there’s no reason to get cranky with other drivers.
When a major project requires us to close a traffic lane, traffic from two lanes may have to merge into one lane. There are some different theories on the best merge tactics, but here, we like to embrace “Iowa Nice” which really boils down to working together to make the act of merging as safe as possible.
We work to do what we can to give drivers plenty of space to merge. merge You can do your part by being aware of all the vehicles in the area and making eye contact with the drivers around you. This will help you determine the earliest and safest time to merge without dramatically altering the way you are currently driving.
For 2018, there have been 181 fatalities reported. That’s an increase of five since last Monday. To see statistics published daily by the Office of Driver Services, go to the daily fatality report at https://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/stats/daily.pdf
Every other car at closure would be great. Hate when people know there is one lane ahead and expect to get in front of everyone else obeying the road signs. Have never heard of the zipper rule in my life. Stupid! People don't comprehend zipper rule....every other car is very explanatory.
Posted by: Pam dusheck | 11/29/2019 at 09:28 PM
Zipper merges work when everyone knows about them and follows the rules. In our experience, that doesn't happen often, but can have some limited success in commuter situations where you have the same folks on the same road day after day and they become used to the process. The zipper, in our experience, doesn't work well on rural roads with traffic that is not used to merging in this fashion.
Posted by: Tracey Bramble | 08/16/2018 at 10:27 AM
What is your opinion on zippering (every other car) at merge? Doesn't taking this approach eliminate single lane back-ups which increase the chance of a rear end collision? If yes, what about having road signs that say every other car at closure. Thanks.
Posted by: Jim Kersten | 08/16/2018 at 09:41 AM