Lane ending merge ahead.... impeding progress thoughts?

Ask yourself: why are you always going past the merge at 5mph if it's effective? You gain nothing by blocking except getting in a 5mph lane ahead of someone that let you in.

 

I don't understand the question...
But @scottied67 is our lane ending expert

 

I think it is illegal to do that. And it should be illegal for people to shoot up the gap and fill the merge area with essentially dead stopped traffic. If everyone is patient and uses the zipper merge method we all get through a lot more efficiently.

 

Sometimes I will ride beside a truck and block the ending lane, it helps.
Most times I will ride the ending lane to the end and cut over.

Why be the almighty sap in the lane that's open, watching hundreds of cars and trucks pass you and cut over at the end??

Thursday in Missouri, the east bound side was backed up for miles because the left lane was closed,
I was going West and told a driver he was dumb to sit in that right lane and watch everyone pass him on the left.
And I was on the CB telling all the eastbounders to grab the left lane and ride it to the front...

 

What is a zipper merge?
When a lane is closed in a construction zone, a zipper merge occurs when motorists use both lanes of traffic until reaching the defined merge area, and then alternate in "zipper" fashion into the open lane.

Watch a brief video of how it works.

So I'm supposed to merge late?
Yes! As you see the “lane closed ahead” sign and traffic backing up, stay in your current lane up to the point of merge. Then take turns with other drivers to safely and smoothly ease into the remaining lane. Don't worry about being "Minnesota nice." When traffic is heavy and slow, it is much safer for motorists to remain in their current lane until the point where traffic can orderly take turns merging.

When not to do the zipper merge
When traffic is moving at highway speeds and there are no backups, it makes sense to move sooner to the lane that will remain open through construction. The bottom line is to merge when it is safe to do so.

 

Blocking the ending lane by sitting next to another truck does not help. You simply back traffic up more. Let the traffic flow in both lanes till the merge point and use the zipper merge.

 

In traffic engineering, the late merge or zipper method is a convention for merging traffic into a reduced number of lanes. Drivers in merging lanes are expected to use both lanes to advance to the lane reduction point and merge at that location, alternating turns.

 

https://patch.com/michigan/brighton/who-has-the-right-of-way-when-merging-in-constructiona69a234757

Since we are talking about construction zones and merging, we might as well cover
the legality of “blocking” the merge lane, by moving halfway into the merge lane,
to encourage drivers to merge early. This is called “impeding traffic” and MCL
257.676b(1) states, “A person, without authority, shall not block, obstruct, impede, or otherwise interfere with the normal flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic upon a public street or highway in this state, by means of a barricade, object, or device, or with his or her person.”