Matt Allard
In some parts of the United States and Canada traffic officials are encouraging motorists to do the most obvious thing in the world when there is a lane closure. Namely, follow the simple rule of letting cars from each lane go through one after another. It appears to have improved the movement of traffic in cities like Minnesota and Saskatoon by a stunning 40 percent. The simple rule of one by one produces a routine in which everyone knows the drill. It is on the mind of a Winnipeg City Councillor who wants to make it the traffic norm in that town. Today, according to the CBC, St. Boniface Councillor Matt Allard will put forward a motion asking the city administration to explore the practice of zippering. Zippering, also known as zipper merging, happens when one or more lanes on a multi-lane road is closed. Instead of moving into the open lane as soon as possible, people who are “zipper merging” wait until the last possible moment to move over, and drivers alternate letting cars from the closed lane in. If all goes according to plan, the cars merge like teeth on a zipper. Allard said he wouldn’t want a law making zippering mandatory, but he would rather see a “shift in Winnipeg driving culture” that would be encouraged by public awareness campaigns and signage. It is a matter of education — like the way we learned not to block the box. Bulldog, CBC
