I think that your theory is basically correct, but you may have missed something. Although the volume in must equal the volume out, and the average speed should be roughly a constant, the time an individual car takes to make it through the control volume will depend upon the lane choice if people get over at different points.

If people get over at different points, the vehicles that get over early will wait much longer than those that get over late to travel the same distance. This is easily observed in a closed lane situation in Michigan. Basically more people merge in front of a given car in the open lane if he gets over early when compared to the next situation.

If everyone gets over at the same point (it doesn’t matter if it is early or late) the closed lane will move at nearly the same speed as the lane next to it. (Assuming that everyone takes turns 1 by 1 at the merge point) This allows for the fair solution. Since it doesn’t really matter where the merge occurs, it is most convenient to merge at the end of the lane which is physically visible, or to place a sign at the desired merge point.

If it is not clearly marked where to merge, people may merge at different points which will result in inequitable flow rates.

An interesting point is the above is for two lanes going into 1.

If there are 3 lanes going to 2 it is more difficult to get even flow since the lane furthest from the closed lane should not see a merge and therefore move faster than the other two lanes.

My observations have shown that in practice in Michigan, everyone gets over early so the fast lane is the closed lane regardless of the initial number of lanes. In NYC, the fast lane was the lane furthest from the closure if the original number of lanes was 3 or greater since nobody got over early. There was a corollary to the NYC rule during accidents. Under those conditions, the fastest lane became the one the ambulance was traveling in since everyone would get out of its way.

-Joe

posted by 198.208.22...

• Slightly OT: Construction lane closure slowdowns, Atul, Wed, 20 Aug 2003 12:07:11
  • Re: Slightly OT: Construction lane closure slowdowns, 2Slow, Wed, 20 Aug 2003 16:01:11
    • I am with you on this one..., JustinHiFi , Wed, 20 Aug 2003 19:46:51
      • For me, as for most people..., Rod M, Thu, 21 Aug 2003 09:59:25
  • Re: Slightly OT: Construction lane closure slowdowns, David Farley, Wed, 20 Aug 2003 15:42:00
    • traffic flow, ben h., Fri, 22 Aug 2003 13:01:16
    • Re: Slightly OT: Construction lane closure slowdowns, MO, Thu, 21 Aug 2003 05:32:56
      • Re: Slightly OT: Construction lane closure slowdowns, 2Slow, Thu, 21 Aug 2003 06:20:49 <-- Viewing This Message
  • definitely true in Indy, Scott R., Wed, 20 Aug 2003 13:44:28
  • That's a good one..., bRAD, Wed, 20 Aug 2003 13:20:25
  • From the land of nasty driving....when a lane is...., TKC, Wed, 20 Aug 2003 13:14:04
  • Re: Slightly OT: Construction lane closure slowdowns, Skip, Wed, 20 Aug 2003 12:36:43
  • Re: Slightly OT: Construction lane closure slowdowns, CmacD, Wed, 20 Aug 2003 12:36:26

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