Are you getting over too soon in construction zones?

by Linda

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — You ask, we answer!

It may be fall, but road construction season doesn’t seem to be slowing down. I think we all can agree that 2025 has been the year of construction barrels, lane closures, and traffic backups.

Several viewers have flagged the Your Stories Team, pleading for us to teach drivers the proper way to merge when traffic goes down to one lane in a construction zone.

While it may not be the golden rule, many of us consider it the rule of the road: You see the merge sign, indicating a lane is closing ahead, so you automatically start getting over.

As you creep toward the lane closure, your blood boils as you see others not getting over until the last second.

You may have even been the person who splits both lanes, so those last-second mergers can’t get past you.

But could it be that the person you think is being rude by not getting over right away, is actually merging correctly?

“They are, and overall it will decrease the delay not only for themselves but for everybody,” said Dave Smith, former Central New York Regional Director for the New York State DOT.

Smith, who recently retired after 33 years at the NYSDOT, spoke with NewsChannel 9 over the summer on how to merge correctly.

Let’s say the left lane is closing ahead, Smith said if everyone immediately jumps into the right lane, the backup can grow.

“In CNY, people want to be courteous drivers, so they want to jump in the right lane, because they don’t want to cut the line, but what that does, is it causes that queue to build and increases the delay for everybody,” Smith said.

The zipper merge technique is recommended by the NYSDOT and others who study traffic backups.

“If you follow the zipper merge method, you should stay in your lane up to the final merge point, then take turns with drivers in the other lane to safely and smoothly ease into the remaining lane,” wrote author Kevin Feather in a 2024 AAA blog.

A Minnesota traffic study, found the zipper merge can reduce traffic backups by 40%.

The New York State DOT has signs posted in a Rochester work zone on I-490, encouraging the zipper merge.

The signs read, “STAY IN LANE TO MERGE POINT” and “MERGE HERE AND TAKE TURNS.”

While the technique is recommended in work zones in Central New York, it hasn’t officially been deployed by the NYSDOT.

Smith said the Rochester construction project is a long-term closure, where signs encouraging the zipper merge technique can stay up for months.

When it comes to Syracuse, the NYSDOT said many of the lane closures are temporary and constantly moving in and around the 81 Viaduct Project.

But sign or no sign, it does appear the zipper merge is the way to go. However, it does require cooperation from all drivers to be successful.

AAA said drivers should avoid the zipper merge technique when traffic is moving at the posted speed and no traffic backups are forming. In that case, it would be smart to get over into the lane that’s not closing.

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