Brunswick – All about car

A woman wades through the flood waters of the St. John River on the only access road to the Dominion Park community in Saint John, N.B., on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Stephen MacGillivray / THE CANADIAN PRESS After suffering through some of the most severe flooding to hit the area in recent memory, residents of New Brunswick are seeing waters slightly recede. For motorists, this means a partial re-opening of the Trans-Canada Highway in that province, though large swaths of it are still currently closed. Crews are monitoring the situation. During the past few days, when flooding was at its peak, over a hundred kilometres of highway was closed between the communities of Oromocto and River Glade. Today, just nine kilometres are shut, concentrated between markers 330 and 339. Employees of MRDC, the company tasked with maintaining this stretch of highway, are said to be discussing an engineered solution to prevent future flooding problems. MRDC Operations Corporation is a private contractor responsible for the maintenance, operation, and rehabilitation of the 195-km four-lane divided highway between Fredericton and Moncton. It’s the second year in a row the stretch (or part of it) was closed due to flooding. Water levels are gradually decreasing, though the Saint John River remains above flood stage as this time. Levels in Fredericton are projected to sit at just over 7 metres, half a metre above flood stage. In Saint John, levels are lower at 5.1 metres but its flood stage is only 4.2 metres. The provincial government keeps a website which tracks road closures, of which there are many, and a list of other important public advisories. At present, traffic on TCH Route 2 is detoured via Route 1 (Exit 423) and Route 7 (Exit 306 eastbound / Exit 114 westbound). Signage in place but given the length of the detour, motorists would be well advised to pad their travel times to account for the extra
Origin: New Brunswick flooding recedes slightly; Trans-Canada Highway reopening in sections

New Brunswick front license plateSupplied / Wikimedia The legal requirement of sticking a license plate on the front of one’s car is a hot topic in some circles, with some gearheads loathing the unsightly pieces of metal while others believe the plates to be a valuable safety and identification tool. Whatever side of the fence you’re on, front plates are required only in a minority of Canadian provinces. If plans laid out in the last New Brunswick budget are approved, that number will shrink even further. The government calls it a cost-saving measure, though there are no plans to reduce the, y’know, actual cost of licensing one’s vehicle in New Brunswick once the change is put into place, at least not for drivers. Government will see a savings since they will effectively halve the number of plates they need to purchase from suppliers. Gearheads often decry the need for front plates, alleging they ruin the look of their cars and spoil the aesthetic. They have a point, of course, and your author definitely falls into this group. Not everyone is happy with the proposed change, however. Law enforcement officers in the province are crying foul, saying the removal of front plates will scupper their efforts to identify those who break the law. Bus drivers are voicing their disapproval as well, stating that front-facing license plates are a critical tool which helps them report drivers who fail to stop for a school bus with its red lights flashing. In some provinces where front plates are not required, very strict penalties are in place for passing a stopped school bus. PEI, for example, can slap offending drivers with a $5,000 fine and three-month license suspension. In a timely bit of small-town carping, a man in neighbouring Nova Scotia took to the local newspaper to complain about the types of novelty plates displayed on the front of vehicles in his area. The re-introduction of front plates, he said, would curb the issue. Okay, then. Once the New Brunswick government approves the change, the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba will be the only remaining provinces still requiring a front plate, though Ontario is also nixing the front plate in the near future. The government says they will soon announce a date when these amendments will come into effect and motorists are reminded to continue to display two plates until the legislation is
Origin: New Brunswick scrapping front license plates