Articles Tagged with Zipper Merge in North Carolina

Merging in North Carolina is one of those subjects drivers are absolutely certain they’re right about. They’re deeply offended when someone else appears to be “cutting the line” by using an open lane all the way to the merge point. What they may not realize is that, when a zipper merge is intended, the supposedly inconsiderate driver is actually following the roadway’s intended design, using a safer and more efficient merging method, and helping reduce the very traffic jam the “get over early” crowd is making worse.

You see it on I-77, I-85, I-485, and nearly every Charlotte road where construction or an entrance ramp squeezes traffic together. A sign warns that a lane will end. A lot of drivers immediately move into the continuing lane, leave the “ending lane” open, and create a long backup, thinking that’s required.

Other drivers stay in the open lane and proceed toward the merge point. At some point, a self-appointed lane monitor appears. The monitor eases halfway across the lane line, matches the speed of the backed-up traffic, and blocks the open lane so nobody can “cut.” The driver views this as civic service, if not a matter of right.