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Old 06-14-2016, 10:29 AM
 
Location: Minneapolis, MN
10,244 posts, read 16,375,702 times
Reputation: 5309

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Wired magazine blames 'Minnesota Nice' for failure to adopt the 'zipper merge' | City Pages

We're getting called out on failing to implement the zipper merge on our highways. Please discuss!
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Old 06-14-2016, 10:32 AM
 
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,089,277 times
Reputation: 3995
I've seen the MNDOT web site saying that we should do that, and the technique does make sense, but I can see how people wanting to do that would be seen as similar to the selfish idiots who drive on the shoulder and merge in at the very last minute.

One it becomes accepted practice, tho, I can see it working. Signage will help. If people know they are supposed to maintain two lanes and merge at the end, they will be more likely to do it that way.
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Old 06-14-2016, 10:50 AM
 
4,096 posts, read 6,218,289 times
Reputation: 7407
I'm from MN and it drives me nuts how we line up and wait nicely and then get mad if someone goes past in the empty lane. I go in the empty lane all the time and ZIP in in front of all the MN Nice waiters. Makes me crazy how we can't adapt to this. It makes the wait so much longer to be single file. Minnesota start zipping!
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Old 06-14-2016, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Twin Cities
367 posts, read 545,766 times
Reputation: 633
Unfortunately no amount of education seems to help. I love Minnesota, but its drivers are not one of its tributes. I've lived in numerous states around the country and truly believe we have some of the worst, most ignorant drivers. The zipper merge? People here can't merge period on freeways. This, combined with the left-lane hogs and the overall "make way for me" attitude that is prevalent, really exacerbates road rage here.
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Old 06-14-2016, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Bel Air, California
23,766 posts, read 29,064,596 times
Reputation: 37337
MNDOT has been conducting a pretty aggressive media campaign to educate us bumpkins on this new-fangled concept and from what I've see on my daily commute into the Forest Lake split it appears that we have been able to at last grasp this strategery. Probably anyone not catching on are people heading home to Wisconsin or Iowa.
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Old 06-14-2016, 11:07 AM
 
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,089,277 times
Reputation: 3995
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhody2Mn View Post
Unfortunately no amount of education seems to help. I love Minnesota, but its drivers are not one of its tributes. I've lived in numerous states around the country and truly believe we have some of the worst, most ignorant drivers. The zipper merge? People here can't merge period on freeways. This, combined with the left-lane hogs and the overall "make way for me" attitude that is prevalent, really exacerbates road rage here.
I would much rather drive up there than down here in Atlanta. Drivers here can be ... crazy. Road rage in the Twin Cities? I rarely saw it. I've seen some real winners down here, tho...
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Old 06-15-2016, 09:20 AM
 
1,500 posts, read 1,773,203 times
Reputation: 2033
I can't even. Just no. Why don't we have on and off ramps? Why do we all merge into ONCOMING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC? How is that safe or acceptable? On and off ramps are shared... Why? As for the zipper... Sometimes it's an option and other times they try to make it an option but considering the conditions of the roads and lackluster planning it just doesn't make sense.

I have thought more than a handful of times of leaving Minnesota due to the horrible driving situation in the twin cities. It's dangerous and very unorganized.
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Old 06-15-2016, 09:36 AM
 
Location: Bel Air, California
23,766 posts, read 29,064,596 times
Reputation: 37337
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minntoaz View Post
I can't even. Just no. Why don't we have on and off ramps? Why do we all merge into ONCOMING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC? How is that safe or acceptable? On and off ramps are shared... Why? As for the zipper... Sometimes it's an option and other times they try to make it an option but considering the conditions of the roads and lackluster planning it just doesn't make sense.

I have thought more than a handful of times of leaving Minnesota due to the horrible driving situation in the twin cities. It's dangerous and very unorganized.

just a thought...are you by chance noticing that traffic is heading directly at you when using the roadways?
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Old 06-15-2016, 09:37 AM
 
871 posts, read 1,088,940 times
Reputation: 1900
I get that it is best overall to zipper merge, but unfortunately there does seem to be a passive-aggressive need for many Minnesotans to guard their lane from 'outsiders' ("those people in the left lane are just plain WEIRD, they're probably trying to get into my lane to RAPE OUR WOMEN! I'm going to KEEP THEM OUT!!!"). There is nothing more fun in this world than to try a zipper merge only to be blocked from the lane you're trying to merge into, then being forced to come to a complete stop as you've run out of roadway, blinker on, and watching people zoom by while conspicuously not making eye contact ("Sorry, I didn't see you! You're 15 degrees to the left in front of me and completely out of my range of vision!").

It takes a village to zipper merge, and too many villagers seem to interpret turn signals as "please, someone, fill this space that my signal is indicating!". The best strategy is to hope that someone in the lane you want to get into is distracted (hopefully texting), so you can quickly zip in before they even know their lane is about to get violated. If people know that you have to merge due to a lane closure they're on their guard and your chance is as good as lost.
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Old 06-15-2016, 10:17 AM
 
Location: Type 0.73 Kardashev
11,110 posts, read 9,817,167 times
Reputation: 40166
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minntoaz View Post
I can't even. Just no. Why don't we have on and off ramps? Why do we all merge into ONCOMING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC? How is that safe or acceptable? On and off ramps are shared... Why? As for the zipper... Sometimes it's an option and other times they try to make it an option but considering the conditions of the roads and lackluster planning it just doesn't make sense.

I have thought more than a handful of times of leaving Minnesota due to the horrible driving situation in the twin cities. It's dangerous and very unorganized.
You're doing it wrong.
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