We have discussed this before in other threads, and it can get quite interesting. It is actually a discussion that I quite enjoy.
I personally am a major advocate of zipper merging -- this is what Minnesota does, as mentioned -- and it works really well.
When it comes to temporary lane closures for construction, it is actually best if drivers
don't even know what lane is closed. All they need to know is that the two lanes are going to come together in X miles, and (a) if traffic is free flowing, normal expectations of keep right apply until the merge point, and (b) if traffic is
not free flowing, stay in your lane and take turns when you get to the merge point. It really does not matter what lane you are going to be using in the construction zone. Very simple.
Where my view gets a bit more complicated is in cases of exits, where either the mainline
or the exit ramp is free-flowing, while the other one is jammed. It is usually not fair to apply zipper merging in these cases, because (a) there is no predetermined merge point, and (b) it is nonsensical to interfere with traffic making the free flowing movement. Yet some people do it anyways and try to jam in at the last second, and that really does make me mad -- the key difference from above being that they are
not simply taking advantage of a wasted lane (and if they were, I would have no qualms). Rather, there is an existing stream of traffic that has full rights to that lane, and for you to hammer the brakes in their lane and try to squeeze into a non-existent space is just not acceptable.
I-490 WB at I-590 is the location where I have discussed this happening in the past, as a high percentage of the traffic tries to cram into the far right lane during afternoon rush hour. It still happens, and it still frustrates me, but I don't have reason to take that route home as much as I used to, which I think has been good for my blood pressure!
