To wonder if I'm getting it all wrong re: lane closures

[Welshmaenad]

In situations on dual carriageways/motorways where a lane is being closed, it was my understanding that traffic should continue to use both lanes up to the point of closure where they should merge into the open lane - to prevent miles of backlogs in the open lane. Am I right? It's what I've always done if I happened to be travelling in the lane that was closing.

Driving home yesterday from a weekend away, dual carriageway, lane closure ahead - I was already in the lane staying open so I just stayed there and let people in that wanted to merge - but as we queued (with the closing lane blissfully empty bar the odd car driving up to the merge point) I noticed two cars in front pull out and straddle both lanes across the dividing lanes, effectively blocking cars from making it to the merge point.

Wtf is this batshittery? Why did they feel the need to police the situation? Have I been getting it wrong all these years??

You are correct and if signs are available it usually says to use both lanes until they join. We’re the straddlers at the end of the lanes?

Were

You're correct. I hate the idiots who take it upon themselves to be lane police.

Some people in this country are pathetic and don't understand merge in turn as a concept.

And I don't think you're getting it wrong OP.

I’ve never done that - going right up to the point of closure creates a stop/start thing further down the line. Far better to merge on the lead up to the point of closure as it keeps the traffic flowing more evenly along the queue imo.

It's called zip merging and it reduces congestion, queue length, speeding and accidents.

@MaMelon

I’ve never done that - going right up to the point of closure creates a stop/start thing further down the line. Far better to merge on the lead up to the point of closure as it keeps the traffic flowing more evenly along the queue imo.

In fact the opposite is true.

Merging early means you can't merge in turn and that causes additional congestion.

OP you are correct but because ignorant people insist on merging early everyone suffers.

They have probably watched a few people come racing down the lane that's about to be closed and barge in at the last minute, which I see plenty of, and is not really in the spirit of merging in turn.

In fact the opposite is true

Not in my 30-plus years experience of driving! If cars merge in turn from the countdown between the 800 and 200 signs and keep at a steady speed then it keeps the line moving. Driver behaviour is such that if cars in the line are moving at a steady 30/40 (or whatever the limit is) and someone comes flying up the outside at 50 or 60 then brakes and tries to push in then other cars have to stop to let them in. That creates the stop/start further down.

Of course, it all requires drivers to understand what is meant by merge in turn.

@Namechangeforthis88

They have probably watched a few people come racing down the lane that's about to be closed and barge in at the last minute, which I see plenty of, and is not really in the spirit of merging in turn.

That's the reason, of course. But it's all those people who've moved into the "right" open lane that have caused it. People should stay in their lane until the merge point and then "zip" merge in turn. That's the way to keep the queue length short as it uses both lanes as far as possible.

Of course, it's annoying when you've been in slow traffic for a mile or two to see someone speeding past in the empty lane, but in reality, they're right and you're wrong.

That should have been - then brakes and tries to push in at the closure point

@MaMelon

In fact the opposite is true

Not in my 30-plus years experience of driving! If cars merge in turn from the countdown between the 800 and 200 signs and keep at a steady speed then it keeps the line moving. Driver behaviour is such that if cars in the line are moving at a steady 30/40 (or whatever the limit is) and someone comes flying up the outside at 50 or 60 then brakes and tries to push in then other cars have to stop to let them in. That creates the stop/start further down.

Of course, it all requires drivers to understand what is meant by merge in turn.

Well I've also been driving 30+ years - zip merge works at the pinch point because it is easy to identify who's turn it is. It cannot work if everyone moves over in advance for precisely thre reason you state - an Audi or BMW always comes racing along past everyone who already merged and holds up the entire line by forcing their way in at the front. Zip merging right at the point of the restriction is far more efficient and maximises use of available lane space. I am fairly sure there's even published research on this but I can't be arsed to Google it.

This problem persists because different road situations call for different strategies from the drivers. At the point when a lane closure just appears, especially when the traffic volume is low, cars will be travelling to the taper point at high speeds. Zip merging at high speeds is not a comfortable exercise. As a result, people will naturally start falling behind each other in a single-file queue way ahead of the taper point. At some point after, if traffic volume increases, the single file will become conjested. At this point, another bit of human psychology kicks in - the sense of procedural justice or the conviction that "first come - first serve" is the correct way of doing things. For most people, it will seem very rude to speed down a queued file just to force merge at the taper point. So people wait and freel angered by those who don't. And when emotions are hightened, butting in at the taper point creates dangerous situations. Many people will also have difficulty with pulling out of the queued line into a free lane in order to zip merge as the vehicles in the free lane are likely to travel much faster.

The only way this can be avoided is through clear, repeated and correctly timed signage. Signage should not appear before the traffic slows down to perform the zip merge safely. Signage has to be clear and repeated at intervals in order to give the drivers the confidence to overcome their natural desire for procedural justice.

Now, in my 20 plus years on the British roads I have never ever seen such clear, repeated and well-timed signage. At best, there might be one "merge in turn" sign, and usually even this is missing. So, before you blame individual drivers, consider the varied factors that create the problem.

The problem with your way is when you end up undertaking people.

I tend to think that there’s one pinch point, you may as well gradually all get in the single lane a bit further back. It makes no difference to traffic flow where the bottle neck is.

Forgot - the situation gets extra interesting when there is a three- or four-lane motorway closing down to one of the side lanes. Zip merging four lanes into one is a bit more complicated than just "taking turns", so again it's not surprising that people prefer to be safe and start arranging themselves in an orderly queue in advance.

PissedOffProf - very well explained.

What should happen in theory often doesn't in practice - human nature takes over and drivers don't behave as they should.

I have seen it work beautifully abroad where everyone keeps going then zips in together at the end, but it never seems to work here. I think that one of the problems we have is that they expect everyone to get in to a specific lane, so if you are in that lane you expect to keep going. Perhaps setting it up so that both lanes disappear into a space in the middle would work better?

I have had the same argument with DH who instantly gets into the open lane, slows down and creeps along for an hour while vans, lorries and German cars whizz down the empty lane, get to the obstruction and barge in. It also always seems that those who do that somehow manage to all pull over in a bunch because our lane stops completely while they are never held up.

There's a bit just before Stonehenge where 2 lanes merge into one and it is always a huge fight. The queue in the right lane just keeps barging and barging, and there is a smaller road that feeds into the left lane so people also sneak up your inside. It's horrible. Should be quite simple to just feed one and one.

Pissed Off Prof's explanation is best.

Only some junctions have merge in turn signs. Where those exist, it usually works quite well - people use both lanes and take it in turns.

The problem comes eg on a motorway when there's an accident or similar and people see the sign to get into the left hand lane really early on and do it. If everyone did it in that scenario there would be no congestion. But you always get the entitled idiots who roar up to where the lanes disappear and push in. I like the idea of making everyone move into the middle lane in that scenario.

Unless everyone does it the same way, it doesn't work. There needs to be an advertising campaign making crystal clear which approach people are to take.

And yes Stonehenge is a pain. Usually a lorry straddles the lanes and stops the pushers-in if you are going away from Andover. I think there are merge in turn signs when you come from the other direction, but they may be at a different pinch point.

It gets so frustrating that you'd actually prefer them to cone off all the dual carriageway bits on the A303 on busy days as it flows better as two way traffic.

In answer to the OP, it is because they feel inadequate about the size of their penis. As it is almost always men who do this.

YANBU OP!! Why people would rather queue in one lane affecting junctions and traffic much further back when there is plenty of "good" lane left I do not know.
I am one of those people that will use the lane until the merge point (and i don't drive an Audi or a BMW)! Glad to see there are still plenty of us about

When you say the merge point do you mean the start of the merge or the point of closure @Outnumbered99? The OP was talking about the point of closure which is where (imo) the boy racers tend to screech up to then push in, forcing the slower moving traffic to stop and let them in. The point of merger is different and where it should (imo) start.

Not in danger of taking out any cones or road workers, but not at the "lane closes in 400 yards" sign either wherever you would you call that?