The Parable of the Merge

While traveling, we hit a spot of bad traffic, which is to say largely stopped traffic, with an occasional "go" thrown in for good measure. It soon enough became apparent what the problem was when I saw a sign that indicated that, a mile ahead, the left lane ended. So it was a case of two lanes becoming one that was holding things up. I had been in the left lane to this point, and despite not being in Pennsylvania I decided to observe the PA niceties: stay in present lane until merge point. The left lane gradually became the fast lane as more and more cars got out of the way and merged early.
Then the strangest thing happened: the left lane never ended. It said it was going to end; signs said so repeatedly, but the lane never disappeared, was never blocked off. So all that trouble was over nothing. People saw the signs and made their way to the right lane, slowing everyone down to a crawl in the process, and for what?
Make this into a parable. Draw your own conclusions.

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