Try Pennsylvania avenue

In response to the letter titled “Drivers are selfish,” it seems an efficient and safe merging system has been developed by Pennsylvania: a sign at the onset that reminds the drivers to “use both lanes to merge point” and another sign at the merge point that directs cars to “merge here.”

The article I read states, “By encouraging the use of both lanes, the friction between ‘early’ and ‘late’ mergers in a traditional traffic control is eliminated because drivers are clearly permitted to use both lanes. Additionally, the queue lengths are essentially cut in half (utilizing both lanes instead of one) and the overall system is more equitable because the first vehicles to arrive are the first vehicles to exit the traffic control area. This system also resolved any ambiguity on correct merging practice, as now all drivers understood that it was acceptable to use the discontinuous lane because PennDOT clearly permitted this action. One research paper stated that a study of operational effects of the Pennsylvania Late Merge increased the capacity of the merging operations by as much as 15 percent.”

Other articles I have read state additional benefits. It makes sense to me.

Carol Vanhoff

Coeur d’Alene