A barrier-transfer machine (also known as a road zipper) will be introduced on the Paton Bridge in Kyiv before the end of the year, Deputy Kyiv Mayor Ilia Sahaidak announced on his Facebook page.
In addition to the Paton Bridge, the system will also adjust barriers from Sobornost Avenue to Darnytska Square.
Barrier-transfer machines are heavy vehicles used to transfer concrete lane dividers (each weighing more than 450 kg) which are used to relieve traffic congestion during rush hours.
The machine is operated without closing a road to traffic. In practice, this means that one or two lanes can be added on a road in the direction of downtown Kyiv in the mornings and in the opposite direction in the evenings.
"Based on the socio-economic expediency criterion, implementation of the Road Zipper system will save annual transportation losses of UAH 348-736 million (depending on the calculation methodology). Based on another criterion, it can save almost 3,840 liters of fuel per day and the environmental effect from implementation of the Road Zipper system can be estimated at non-release of almost 4,993 kilograms of harmful CO2 into the city's air per day," Sahaidak said.
Similar machines exist on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Coronado Bridge in San Diego, the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge in Washington, and in other cities and countries.
