Traffic

Gridlock Guy: When a problem comes along, you must zip it

The crux of many traffic problems is drivers’ urges to succumb to human nature and their own understanding. “Oh, I can mash the gas here,” “I can quickly answer that text, no big deal,” or “That jerk passed me, I’m going to swoop up and pass them back,” are just a few examples of the red guy on our left shoulders crawling in our ears and pulling levers. One way the devil (or whomever you contribute harmful human behavior to) goads us into doing wrong is by convincing us we’re doing something right.

C.S. Lewis explained that tactic ingeniously in his 1942 novel The Screwtape Letters, in which head demon Screwtape is writing advisory letters to his nephew Wormwood on how to tempt and trip a particular Christian, the Patient, who is young in their faith. Most of Screwtape’s tips were not overt temptations, but rather suggestions of gentle nudges in weak spots that could change the Patient’s thinking and lead him to losing faith and behaving more dastardly.

One element of travel where this type of self-righteous indignation leads drivers in completely the wrong direction is when traffic has to merge at a lane closure. Generally, when one sees a sign about a forthcoming lane closure, they move over a lane early. Yours truly does this, too, both in the name of efficiency and politeness. Very few things irk motorists more than when someone goes shooting down a soon-to-be-closed lane faster than the line of slower cars in the open lanes. Then the swift driver slows at the head of the closure, throws on their blinker, and expects someone to let them in line. Rude, right? Traffic engineers disagree.

State DOTs have been urging motorists over the last few years to deploy the “zipper method.” This idea requires using every bit of open lanes up until the last second and then traffic taking turns merging into the first open lane one at a time. The every-other configuration looks like teeth in a zipper, hence the name. Traffic gurus recommend doing this when traffic in the open lanes begins to slow and they swear the zipper method decreases delays. Kansas DOT’s video explanation is particularly good and involves animated talking traffic cones, by the way.

The zipper notion makes sense: if drivers use the maximum capacity of the lanes to the fullest extent, then the greatest amount of cars can pass a single point in the least amount of time. But executing this requires patience, judgment, and faith in fellow drivers - three virtues that sometimes are scarce on Metro Atlanta roads.

The first complication with practicing the zipper method is deciding the lane in which to be. The method doesn’t work if everyone stays in the open lane and then tries to dart over at the last second. That is why engineers suggest only bothering with the zipper method when traffic is slow. Drivers then can gauge which lane has less traffic and then get into it, regardless of whether or not it later will be closed.

Zipping gets more tricky when there are multiple lane closures. How do drivers practice letting each other in one at a time when there are two, three, or even four lanes that have to take turns? This is one reason that road crews taper lane closures, starting with part of one lane. Traffic should begin the zipper method at the first lane closure, then again at the second, and so on up until the open lane.

Illinois made the zipper method a law in 2020 and different states have tried to encourage driver behavior with signage, social media, videos, and PSAs. But regardless of directives or fear of punishment, the impetus for driving behavior should be making traffic move faster and more safely. And the zipper method does this, whether it is a rule or suggestion. If more people do it, then the behavior becomes more normal and traffic flows even better.

The Screwtape Letters ends with the Patient overcoming his own cowardice and doubt and him fighting with courage in World War II. He died while behaving bravely, in spite of himself, rendering Screwtape’s and Wormwood’s mission as a failure. Likewise, we need to surmount our urges to both merge early and “punish” others by not letting them into our lane before a closure. Thinking this way will help traffic with the forthcoming and back-breaking reduction of I-285 from five lanes to three in a few weeks in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs.

If we behave with patience, judgment, and faith in the cars around us, despite our reservations, traffic will move better if we start to zip. “Zip it. Into shape. Shape it up. Get straight. Go forward. Move ahead.”

Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. He also hosts a traffic podcast with Smilin’ Mark McKay on wsbradio.com. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.

Listen

news

weather

traffic

mobile apps

Everything you love about wsbradio.com and more! Tap on any of the buttons below to download our app.

amazon alexa

Enable our Skill today to listen live at home on your Alexa Devices!