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CBC
3 days ago
- Automotive
- CBC
New roundabout coming at Moncton highway ramps, city chips in $1.1M
Social Sharing The New Brunswick government plans to build a roundabout for Trans-Canada Highway ramps on Mapleton Road in Moncton. The two-lane roundabout is planned for the westbound ramps on the north side of the highway. Construction is expected to start in July. Traffic exiting the westbound lanes trying to turn left onto Mapleton sometimes backs up on the ramp onto the highway. On Monday afternoon, multiple drivers could be seen turning right and immediately doing a U-turn instead of waiting in the line on the ramp to turn left at the stop sign. René Lagacé, Moncton's director of engineering, said the backup creates a safety concern that the roundabout should help address. "That will help with fluidity of traffic, eliminating — well, reducing — some back traffic backups," Lagacé said. Marc Dionne, who manages three hotels near the highway interchange, said the work should help address safety issues. "It's an excellent idea," Dionne said. "It will help with the traffic because there's always a buildup of traffic in this area." WATCH | 'Long overdue' roundabout coming at Moncton highway ramps: Province adding roundabout to ease backups at Moncton highway ramps 4 hours ago Duration 2:08 The New Brunswick government plans to build a two-lane roundabout where two Trans-Canada Highway ramps connect with Mapleton Road in Moncton. It's an area where traffic exiting the westbound lanes often backs up the ramp to the highway. The work includes realigning Queensway Drive with Northwood Road and adding traffic lights for the eastbound ramp intersection. Tender records show the province has yet to award the construction contract. Northern Construction Inc. was the lowest bidder at $6 million, according to the New Brunswick Opportunities Network website. Jacob MacDonald, a spokesperson for the province's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, said construction should begin next month and be complete in November. Detours will take place during construction, and the westbound exit ramp will be closed for part of the time, MacDonald said. He said construction is expected to cost $6.8 million. Moncton council held a special meeting Monday and voted unanimously to contribute $1.1 million toward the work. It will pay for multi-use asphalt paths on each side of Mapleton under the highway, and a sidewalk along the north side of Queensway Drive. "This is a big win for us," Lagacé told council when talking about the paths. He said the city advocated modifying the area under the highway to allow the city to extend its active transportation network north of the highway. Lagacé said the work will involve rebuilding the sloped structures under the overpass and adding retaining walls to make room for the paths. The bulk of the city's contribution, at $700,000, is from the city's annual $1 million active transportation budget line. Lagacé said city staff anticipated the money would go toward the work, so it won't result in the loss of funding for other active transportation projects this year. Another $116,000 come from developers of a hotel in anticipation of a sidewalk along Queensway. During the brief council meeting, Coun. Paul Richard asked if the roundabout would be designed to handle transport truck traffic.
CBC
31-03-2025
- General
- CBC
Saint John's Rainbow Park being significantly reduced to build new school
Large sections of Rainbow Park — an area built to provide recreation space and a playground for people living in Saint John's south end, an area with high levels of poverty — will be removed to build a new school. When the new school is built, there will still be a park space, but it will be smaller and with restrictions on local use. The new school, which will educate about 450 students, is being built to replace the Prince Charles and St. John the Baptist/King Edward schools. St. John the Baptist/King Edward School is on St. James Street in the lower south end and Prince Charles School is on Union Street, next to Prince Edward Square. After construction, community members who aren't students will only be able to use the park outside of school hours, according to Saint John's Shape Your City website. The new school will be bordered by St. James Street, Sydney Street and Charlotte Street, according to Marc Dionne, director of parks and public works. Dionne said that all existing trees will be cut down. New trees, however, will be planted. "The Rainbow Park playground is going to be removed as part of the new school footprint," Dionne said in a recent interview. The existing Jumpstart playground will remain, as will the splash pad. "When we revitalize this area, we're also going to include a new tiny tots playground [and] some green space for the public to sit," Dionne told Information Morning Saint John. Several key elements of the park will also be reinstated, he said, including the community gardens, dog park and the Turner Brewer Memorial. The Turner Brewer Memorial is a memorial garden in honour of John Turner and Jacqueline Brewer, who died separately in the mid-1990s as a result of parental abuse. The memorial was put up in 2017, about 20 years after their deaths. The park used to have a plaque in their memory, which mysteriously disappeared years ago. The city has long a development plan for the area, but work has only recently begun. Dionne said the plan's first stage will be removing trees to make room. Next, the city will revitalize the corner between Broad Street, Charlotte Street and Sydney Street. The group that runs the south end community centre PULSE (People United in the Lower South End) is keeping an eye on the changes at Rainbow Park. In a statement, centre chair Heather Chase expressed pleasure for the "ongoing investments" and "the development of the new school," but said the community must be kept aware of all changes to the neighbourhood and be "actively involved" in the process. "We are particularly looking forward to continued dialogue on several key issues, including the community garden, the Brewer-Turner Memorial, replacement of affordable housing units, and the impact of the new school on recreational assets and playground equipment," the statement said. Chase said the group understands restricted access to playground equipment for safety reasons, but also hopes the city continues to work with them to maximize benefits. Details of the plans are available on the Shape Your City site.
