PORTLAND, Ore. — Merging on Portland highways should sometimes be considered an Olympic sport -- for example, you only have 1,000 feet to cross three lanes of from NW Glisan on I-405 to get to Highway 30.
And Portland drivers... well. we're known for being either a little "too" careful or a bit passive aggressive.
"It really is an exercise in sociology as it is an exercise in engineering with what you're seeing out on the road," Don Hamilton with ODOT said.
The zipper merge, where a road narrows from three lanes to two, or two lanes to one, is pretty easy to understand on regular streets: you go, then I go, you go, then I go, etc. Just like a zipper!
But when you get on the freeway... all bets are off.
So is it cheating to go all the way down until the lane ends, and then merge into traffic?
The drivers we talked to said - heck yes it is cheating.
ODOT on the other hand says it's absolutely not cheating!
"A lot of people will merge way back in the line but that doesn't operate the road efficiently," Hamilton explained.
"What people here lack in talent, they make up for in graciousness!" one driver said.