Simms Corner, phase one, starts in May
Published Saturday February 7th, 2009
SAINT JOHN - Tenders will be called within a month for $1.4-million worth of work that will be the first step in reconfiguring Simms Corner.
Reconstruction of the Catherwood Street/Fairville Boulevard intersection that will extend beyond the lower entrance of Lancaster Mall will be included in this first phase, Paul Groody said Friday. Groody is the city's commissioner of municipal operations.
Construction will start in May. The design for the larger project will be complete by the end of the year, he said.
The initial work will also include realigning Harding Street West with the mall's lower entrance and the installation of traffic lights and sidewalks.
"A lot of traffic goes through there," Groody said.
"It will be arranged to allow for the future development of this whole area, not only on the Lancaster Mall side but on the other side as well.
"It will make for a better connection from Harding Street West and that connection will be aligned with the entrance to the mall.
From a traffic safety point of view, that's extremely important."
In the end, Simms Corner will be a signalized area that is pedestrian friendly and designed with bicycle lanes and sidewalks, Groody said.
The first phase is part of a much bigger $8.4-million project that involves a complete reconstruction of everything from the Catherwood Street/Fairville Boulevard intersection to the Reversing Falls Bridge, along with significant reconstruction on Main Street West and Lancaster Avenue.
The second phase, worth $3.5 million, involves giving a new Bridge Road a more direct route to the Reversing Falls bridge by cutting into the hill of the former Centracare property, relocating the Irving Oil Ltd. crude lines that run through the area and reconstructing a retaining wall along Fairville Boulevard, next door to Lancaster Mall.
The third phase involves street reconstruction from the entrance of Lancaster Mall all the way to the Reversing Falls bridge, up Main Street and Lancaster Avenue, at a cost of $3.5 million.
"In addition to street reconstruction, we need to make sure we work very closely with Irving Pulp and Paper and the tourist area to make sure access is co-ordinated with this project," he said."There needs to be some realignment of those access points."
Preliminary discussions have been held with Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd. and with Waterfront Development, Saint John Energy, Saint John Transit, Aliant, N.B. Southern Railway, which has two crossings that will be affected, Transport Canada, and Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline.
NB Power has a high-voltage transmission line going through the area and the Irving Oil crude pipeline to Coleson Cove needs to be relocated.
"This isn't just a typical street project," Groody said.
The city also has to keep in mind the work that is planned for the Harbour Bridge because it and the Reversing Falls bridge cannot be under major reconstruction at the same time; the entire deck of the Harbour Bridge will be replaced over the next two years at a cost of $27 million.
Simms Corner work also needs to be co-ordinated with a Saint John Water project that will see two new pipelines under the Reversing Falls bridge.
Because the improvements will take place on roads with provincial designation, the city is calling for the province to pitch in and also for federal money under special infrastructure funding that was announced in the budget.
"I don't think it's fair to the municipality to have to pay the full cost of this reconstruction," Groody said.
"We're doing our utmost to bring in other partners who should have a part in this."
Subject to funding and other logistical details such as land acquisition and contractor availability, the plan is to tackle phase two in 2011 and phase three in 2012.
"It's in everybody's best interest to have this reconstruction," Groody said, noting it gets truck traffic off Harding Street and Main Street West.
"It's good for truck access to the highway and given that, it's good for everybody else."
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On a positive note - I have lived in Saint John for over 30 years and we are finally having Simms Corner upgraded. Excellent! Thank you to the person(s) who have looked after this.
We are all entitled to our opinions. I have lived on the west side of Saint John for almost 30 years and Simms corner works just fine if you know how to drive properly. This is going to be a huge mess for people who live on the west side considering there are only 2 ways out - the harbour bridge (where I have to pay just to cross) and the reversing falls bridge.
I just hope the city gets organized for the sake of us tax payers who live on the west side.
This is Good news; Although I will miss the Old Simms corner. It was an adventure and a mind boggler!
Thank you Mr. Groody for giving us, the city, the thoughts and the process that you have gone through so far in the decisions for this intersection. You have already held preliminary talks with the 'organization' stakeholders. Now you have to involve the citizens who will have to live with the construction AND the results. Please involve them.
It is great to see that Mr. Groody has taken other projects into consideration and found ways for this project to dovetail with them. And this project has been 'phased' so the cost has the option of being spread over time.
Hopefully the other two levels of gov't will pony up so we won;t be footing the entire bill.
All in all, I think, finally, Mr Groody is starting to get it. Great start at involving and communicating with citizens. Keep it up.
To me this is a scary statement. Shouldn't the entire plan be finished and analyzed before starting?
Given the recent disastrous traffic planning in Saint John the proposal should be made public for discussion and approval. Saint John traffic planning has shown no signs that it is capable of providing good results.