Maine has been pursuing “alternative mergers” for a decade.
DENVER — AAA predicts more than 60 million people will be traveling by car this week, meaning 60 million people will have the opportunity for a zipper merge.
In Maine, the “Right Lane Ends” sign is easier to understand.
“We call it ‘alternate merging,’ and we only use it in certain locations, usually to get out of a traffic signal and make better use of the lanes,” said Steven Landry, a traffic engineer with the Maine Department of Transportation.
Maine has been pursuing “alternative mergers” for a decade.
The sign shows the left and right lanes merging into one center lane.
“We don’t use it everywhere because we really need construction,” Landry said. “You can’t call a normal right lane split an alternate merge. Nobody does that.”
That was evident Thursday at Hampden Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.
The third lane ends just past the traffic light for drivers traveling east on Hampden Avenue.
The sign reads, “Right Lane Ends – 650 Feet.”
Although there was little traffic, there were points where as many as 16 cars were waiting in the second lane where the traffic light did not end, while there were only two cars waiting in the right lane where the traffic light ended.
“We’ve had some issues with vehicles leaving the right lane,” Landry said. “It’s important to be courteous and cooperate with each other on the road.”
“Next with Kyle Clark” viewers David Spector and Debby Rehn shared a photo of an “Alternate Merge” sign they took on a recent trip through Maine.
“We take advantage of the curve in the road to finish off some places because the curve allows the right and left sides to come in together,” Landry said. “If you do it right, it works. If you do it wrong, it could fail.”
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