Feb. 6, 2002
Diamond Drive traffic
Q: There has been quite a bit of discussion in the Letters to the Editor concerning the correct way to merge traffic as it crosses the bridge into the Laboratory on Diamond Drive. From my observations it appears that about 95 percent of the commuters believe that you should be in the left lane before the light and the other 5 percent believe that merging after the light is the way to go. However, in the Letters to the Editor one writer (David Jones) states that according to a conversation with a Facility and Waste Operations (FWO) Division representative the lanes are designed to allow for alternate merging at the point of constriction.
My question is, what was the original intent of the engineers
or what is the official Lab position concerning the merging from
two lanes to one lane on Diamond Drive past the light at West
Jemez Road? Did they have a particular way that they thought the
traffic should flow? If this information is available I think
that it would be helpful to publish it in both the Daily Newsbulletin
and in the [Los Alamos] Monitor so that drivers will know how
to navigate through this area more safely.
A: The
purpose of this response is to answer the questions relating to
the location of the merge from two lanes to one lane on Diamond
Drive past the West Jemez Road/Diamond Drive intersection. According
to the architectural and engineering design professional, Bohannan
Huston, in conjunction with modeling done by the Decision Applications
(D) Division, the recommended method was as follows: the right
lane traffic must merge with the left lane traffic south of the
intersection. This was based on traffic modeling software the
designer used to depict and predict the traffic flow performance
merging north, in comparison to traffic merging south of the intersection.
The results of these models concluded that there would be very
poor performance in continuous traffic flow if the merge location
took place on the north side of the intersection, while predicting
positive performance if the merge location took place on the south
side of the intersection. Some other contributing factors for
merging on the south side of the intersection was that it didn't
conflict with the future plans of Diamond Drive. Plus, the designer
felt it was very difficult to install adequate signage on the
north side of the intersection. So by taking all these positives
and negatives into consideration, and the fact that the traffic
flow was continuous when the merge took place on the south side,
the designer endorsed this to be his final recommendation.
The next issue to be addressed is in regards to the acceptable method for merging on Diamond Drive immediately after the West Jemez Road/Diamond Drive traffic signal. The technique is as follows: the right lane traffic shall yield to the left lane traffic. Nonetheless, it is the design professional's recommendation that the merging would be better if drivers in the left lane were more courteous and would alternate with the right lane drivers.
If you have any comments, or require additional information,
please let me know at your earliest convenience. Please remember
to always be courteous when driving.
--Crystal Rodarte, FWO-UI