Why you're soon going to be seeing, and doing, a lot of zipper merges
CBC
Construction season is just weeks away, and that means New Brunswick drivers will soon be tangling with traffic delays, lane reductions and frayed tempers.
But the province has a plan to help ease all of that by promoting widespread use of an often-misunderstood manoeuvre: the zipper merge.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is rolling out a public awareness campaign this week with a barrage of social media messaging explaining the benefits of zipper merging, and a video demonstrating how to do it.
Minister Jill Green is already a big fan of the zipper merge, and says she has been practising it for decades.
"I learned about zipper merges back when I was in engineering school," Green said in an interview. "It's used all over the world ... and it just moves traffic faster."
But she concedes not everyone gets it, and she's hoping the awareness campaign will change that.
The campaign's 33-second video explains the technique with straightforward, step-by-step directions and illustrated demonstrations.
"You've seen this merge sign before," a voice on the video says. "A lane closure up ahead. Better get over now, right? Nope! Instead, do a zipper merge. Here's how you do it."
Green says the campaign has been in the works for a while, but the launch was timed to beat the summer traffic crunch.
"We want people to start using this technique because it's faster, it moves traffic faster, and … we want to help reduce frustration," she said. "We want everybody to be calm and enjoy the driving experience, and to keep construction workers and contractors safe."
The zipper merge will be required in construction zones, with orange "merge" signs signalling when the technique will be needed, Green said.
"Like for example, on the Harbour Bridge this year, we're going to have the zipper merge required on both sides [during construction]. So we would really like people to start employing this travelling technique."
Terry Sznober is all-too familiar with traffic backups on the Harbour Bridge, and with the problems that can arise from not knowing how to navigate them.
The Saint John resident was the victim of a road-rage incident several months ago on the bridge, an incident he believes was sparked by a zipper-merge misunderstanding.
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.