Use both lanes. Take turns. Don't make it weird.
Zipper merging means staying in your lane until the merge point, then alternating one car at a time. It's the method traffic engineers recommend, and it gets everyone through faster.
How the zipper works
Four steps. When everyone does it, studies show backups can shrink by as much as 40 per cent.
Use both lanes
Both lanes are open right up to the merge point. Using the emptier one isn't jumping the queue. It's what the road is designed for.
Drive to the merge point
Stay in your lane until the cones actually close it. Merging early is what creates the long single-file lineup in the first place.
Take turns, one-for-one
At the merge point, alternate: one car from each lane. It's predictable, it's fair, and nobody has to guess who's going next.
Keep it friendly
Leave a gap, let one car in, give the wave. When the merge is smooth, everyone gets home sooner.
Myths, busted
Common worries about the zipper, and what the research actually says.
"Using the open lane is rude."
TruthLate merging with turn-taking keeps both lanes moving and shortens the queue for everyone. It's tested traffic engineering, not queue-jumping.
"Merging early is the polite thing to do."
TruthIt comes from a good place, but early merging piles everyone into one long lane and creates bigger speed differences, which means more sudden braking.
"Blocking both lanes helps."
TruthLane-blocking causes the exact swerving and braking it's meant to prevent. The safer move is to stay in your lane and take turns at the merge point.
"This will never work in Edmonton."
TruthIt works anywhere drivers adopt it. And between winter and construction season, we get more chances to practice than most cities.
✋ The Zipper Pledge
"I solemnly swear to use both lanes when appropriate, merge at the merge point, let one vehicle in, and keep my cool in the cone zone."
Spread the merge
Copy one and post it. Every share helps the idea catch on.
🚗 Both lanes until the merge point, then take turns. That's the whole thing. #EmbraceTheMerge #yeg
🚧 Merging late isn't cutting. It's how the merge is designed to work. #EmbraceTheMerge #yeg
🤝 One from your lane, one from theirs. The zipper only works if we all do it. #EmbraceTheMerge #yeg
A made-in-Edmonton PSA. See you at the merge point.