B3

John ChilibeCK
Telegraph-Journal

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Transportation costs in Saint John remain among the provincial leaders, but we're not No. 1 - that honour goes to Moncton, which spends the equivalent of almost $358 per person for services such as roadway maintenance, street cleaning, snow removal, storm water management, traffic signals and engineering - all in the bailiwick of the municipal operations department.

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Saint John comes in fourth among New Brunswick cities at $345 per person according to provincial figures for the 2008 budget year, outstripping the New Brunswick city average of just under $309 - a difference of $36.

Dieppe was the cheapest of the eight cities per person for these services, spending $219 for each person.

The findings are a bit of a surprise considering the number of Saint John's road kilometres compared to Moncton's. The annual report of municipal statistics states that the Port City has 520 kilometres of municipal roads to maintain. The Hub City has 388 km.

The figures go some way in explaining why many of the roads in Saint John are in such poor condition. Saint John spends relatively little on preventative maintenance.

Municipal operations commissioner Paul Groody asked common council in 2001 to adopt a five-year road plan that would increase repaving significantly to avoid further street deterioration. At the time, an audit showed that nearly half the city's streets were in poor or very poor condition and would have to be completely rebuilt, a very expensive proposition.

The politicians adopted the plan, but then quietly axed it during subsequent budget deliberations.

This year, council is changing course, asking for an increase to the asphalt program.

Groody has proposed almost doubling the repaving program for 2009, increasing it from $1.4 million to $2.7 million.

The increase will not be enough to make sure all the roads are properly maintained, but it pushes Saint John closer to the amount it needs to spend each year to get on top of the problem.

The worst roadways, meanwhile, will have to be reconstructed. Council will be asked to approve these costlier projects on a case-by-case basis.