Zipper Merge News

[ErmineNotyours]

I have a similar grip with municipalities that insist on installing a Roundabout plaque above a regulatory lane designation sign. What makes my example even worse, is how small the text is in relation to its location relative to the approach and how many bits of information there are for the driver to have to process. My example has something else radically wrong with it...kudos to whomever finds what I am referring to.

"Get in lane" instead of "Stay in lane"

[Brandon]

Take turns merging?  In Chicago, surely you jest?

/Fuck the merge, I'm using the shoulder and then bull my way back in later.

[jakeroot]

Given your explanation, the "Zipper Merge" plaque, if used, should go below the symbolic sign, as it's a supplementary plaque (similar to plaques used for the Circular Intersection sign or Divided Highway Begins/Ends). Placing it on top detracts from the more important information. The only plaques that should go on top of installations like this would be ones like New or Notice, as they're meant to draw attention/enhance conspicuity of the main sign.

That's a very good point. I wasn't sure I wanted two plaques on the bottom, so I split it up.

I have seen yellow plaques on top of signs for things that weren't new: http://bit.ly/2H52dJf (though these, in Arlington County, VA, were totally blank).

Take turns merging?  In Chicago, surely you jest?

/Fuck the merge, I'm using the shoulder and then bull my way back in later.

Better than merging early!

[DaBigE]

^^

There appears to be a stop sign on that signpost to the right, directed at the short sidewalk piece that meets the road. What's that for?

Winner, winner! (sorry, no chicken dinner) The short sidewalk is a ramp from the on-street bike lane to the off-road mixed-use path. These are wider than the typical 4-ft ones WisDOT includes with their urban roundabouts. However, if a cyclist follows the direction the trail Stop sign is aimed, they'll be heading the wrong way down the street. Even the ones posted which do face the proper direction make little sense, as there's no one* to stop for. Not to deviate too far off-topic, but this city likes posting useless signs.

*Ok, sure there may be the occasional cyclist that will ride through the roundabout in a regular vehicle lane then go back to the bike lane, or car parking, but how often will those conflicts really occur?

[kendancy66]

NCDOT used this sign


iPhone

XYZ

[Plutonic Panda]

https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/08/19/driving-traffic-lane-closure-construction-maneuver-safety

[webny99]

(I'm also now regretting getting more pictures of other similar signs in other I-35 work zones. There's been a lot of them the last couple years, so hopefully they should be mostly done with for a while. )

I'm sure you've been sitting in 5-mph traffic during those construction projects enough times to have snapped some pictures, too!  I swear, Owatonna was a four-letter word for a while.

Seriously. Last summer, we left Des Moines 20 minutes after my grandparents. We decided to pop off I-35 right where traffic came to a halt, at Exit 32 (Hope) and then got back on at US 14. They waited it out in the traffic, and we beat them back home by 10 minutes or so, meaning our detour saved us a grand total of about a half an hour. That was a Sunday afternoon. I concluded that I-35 is just too busy to be reduced to a single lane. MNDOT should do what NYSTA does and keep four lanes open for long-term projects.

[kphoger]

HAI has now done a Zipper Merge video.

And all is right with the world.