[Saint John, NB] West Side Developments

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by bingun

Good to see them start to finish up. I hope they do some landscaping!

Are there any other west side developments still in progress? Is the Sealedge Court one complete now?

Looks like they are opening Spring 2026.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by bingun

Also, this seems to have gone under the radar a little, but there is a new lookout at Reversing Falls and some landscaping to make the parking lot a little less bleak.

whoops, replied before you added this.

That's definitely a big improvement. Still wondering about plans I've heard about possibly shutting down Riverview Drive W to through traffic, but I can't imagine the city would commit to any such major changes without first finding out about the future of Simms Corner.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

whoops, replied before you added this.

That's definitely a big improvement. Still wondering about plans I've heard about possibly shutting down Riverview Drive W to through traffic, but I can't imagine the city would commit to any such major changes without first finding out about the future of Simms Corner.

Do you mean Riverview Avenue?

The adjacent cafe to this lookout is still under renovation, but I recall seeing something about it being ready next year.

Add on the Harbour Passage extension and some capital set aside to repair some of the other wooden lookouts, and there could be a noticeable difference by EOY 2026.

Do you think they will make any changes to the sidewalk and railings over the Reversing Falls Bridge at some point? I always find it somewhat unsettling as the gap between the concrete and the railing is big enough to fit a child through.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by bingun

Do you mean Riverview Avenue?

The adjacent cafe to this lookout is still under renovation, but I recall seeing something about it being ready next year.

Add on the Harbour Passage extension and some capital set aside to repair some of the other wooden lookouts, and there could be a noticeable difference by EOY 2026.

Do you think they will make any changes to the sidewalk and railings over the Reversing Falls Bridge at some point? I always find it somewhat unsettling as the gap between the concrete and the railing is big enough to fit a child through.

I guess Google erroneously calls that whole road where the cafe and lookout is,"Riverview Drive West", when it's only the part connected to Lancaster avenue that's called that. I guess the part connected to Bridge used is called Fallsview Drive? I've always just called the whole thing Riverview Drive West, because I use Google Maps, but I guess half of the road is Riverview Drive West, and the other half is Fallsview Drive.




A few years ago Barry Ogden wanted to shut down this road to through traffic, which I thought was a ridiculous proposition for the city to consider before major construction work occurs on the Reversing Falls Bridge, and before the province unveils their "big fix" for Simms Corner.

“It’s very dangerous as the traffic speeds through the parking lot where the tourists and locals walk to enjoy this major tourist attraction,” said Ogden.

Ogden said the road should be blocked off in the centre like it used to be so drivers can only access it from either Bridge Road or Lancaster Road.

Some people take this road to avoid Simms Corner, especially when coming back to the West Side, I think it would be very premature to shut it down to through traffic before construction to the bridge starts, before the Simms Corner re-design, and before the Harbour Passage extension.

While this part of the Harbour Passage extension will be nice to see, I'm not sure it's even going to link up with that sad, disjointed strip of the Harbour Passage along Marketplace West, which currently provides no "passage" across the Harbour.

This extension of the HP is not really going to help promote pedestrianism or cycling between the West Side and Uptown anymore than the current, unpaved trail does. This trail was one of the few success stories of Saint John Cycling building bike trails outside of Rockwood Park, and they were able to do it for much, much less than this extension to the Harbour Passage is going to cost. I guess it's nice people won't get their shoes dirty or muddy, but paving this existing trail will also sort of sterilize the experience.

Pedestrians and cyclists of the West Side would benefit a lot more from better funded transit routes between the West Side, North End, and Uptown, a pedestrian overpass to Fairville Plaza, and a Harbour Bridge walkway, than they will benefit from this expansion to the Harbour Passage that will incorporate an already existing trail. Like, it's not currently difficult to walk to and across the Reversing Falls Bridge from anywhere on the West Side and walk all the way to Uptown Saint John, it just takes forever, and will still take forever once this extension to the HP is complete.

Since Barry Ogden is so keen to make riverboat fantasies a key plank in his mayoral platform, maybe ferries are the answer to fixing that disjointed part of the Harbour Passage?



I'd rather see the city invest money into river piers to make a ferry between the West Side, Douglas Avenue, and Fundy Quay possible... instead of paving a trail that already exists.

Being able to take a ferry as a pedestrian or cyclist between the West Side and Uptown via Douglas Avenue would not only be such a huge improvement to the current active transportation system between the West Side and Uptown, it would be huge for tourism, and the ferry would be a huge part of the appeal of going to the NB Museum from Uptown Saint John.


As for Reversing Falls bridge, I hope there's a way to make it more friendly to cyclists and pedestrians, but that will be up to the provincial DTI, so better start getting MLAs and the premier after them, as they seem to go out of there way to do a bad job designing road infrastructure in Saint John.


The West Side needs to see major improvements for both the Reversing Falls and Harbour Bridge, along with at least one more pedestrian overpass to cross the Saint John Throughway, preferably connecting across to Fairville Plaza.


I think the city should get after the province to study the various solutions to improve the active transportation infrastructure between Uptown and the West Side, as if a pedestrian/bicycle ferry is cheaper than upgrading/expanding the deck of the Harbour Bridge to accommodate bicycles, then perhaps it should get funding first. A pedestrian link across the Harbour Bridge would probably be the best option for residents in the long term, but a pedestrian/bicycle ferry would be better for tourism, and likely cost less money in the short term.

I'm glad this road is looking better, and excited to see what ends up in the former cafe, but I don't think extending the Harbour Passage through this area should be considered a high priority yet, when the biggest missing link in the Harbour Passage system remains the lack of a direct connect between Uptown and the West Side. I think it's only being made a priority because it's easy and relatively cheap. West Siders would definitely benefit a lot more from a pedestrian overpass connecting them to Sobeys than they will benefit from an already existing trail being paved and incorporated into the Harbour Passage system. However, the city can't just decide to build a pedestrian overpass themselves, that's up to the DTI.

Considering how expensive the Simms Corner Upgrades will cost, throwing in a pedestrian overpass less than a km down the throughway to connect Molson Ave with Fairville Plaza would be a mere drop in the bucket. Same could probably be said for getting a walkway added on top of (or under) the Harbour Bridge.

I may love living on the West Side, but it flipping sucks in terms of getting to and from Uptown on foot, despite the two areas being located so close to each other on the map. Bicycle rental stations would make getting between the two areas a lot less bad, as would a better transit system, a pedestrian ferry, or a Harbour Bridge walkway.

It's pretty frustrating hearing how some people from outside the West Side think these goals aren't worth the cost, when the West Side paid a huge price for the benefit of the rest of the city and region when the Throughway/ Harbour Bridge was built. If it was more convenient to get between the West Side and Uptown without a car, I think a lot more people would consider living here.


The province of NB, more than any other actor, owes it to the West Side to fund the solutions needed to better connect the West Side and Uptown peninsulas. While, Susan Holt is calling for the federal government to step up and fund a multi hundred million dollar project to "fix" Simms Corner... West Saint John should be calling on Susan Holt's government to fund solutions to re-connect this disconnected part of the city that was disconnected by provincial decisions in the first place... those decisions being: getting rid of the Saint John Harbour Ferry, and building the Saint John Throughway.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

While this part of the Harbour Passage extension will be nice to see, I'm not sure it's even going to link up with that sad, disjointed strip of the Harbour Passage along Marketplace West, which currently provides no "passage" across the Harbour.

This is my understanding of what they'll do. The King St W and Market Place intersection may need some changes to accommodate it, though.

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

As for Reversing Falls bridge, I hope there's a way to make it more friendly to cyclists and pedestrians, but that will be up to the provincial DTI, so better start getting MLAs and the premier after them, as they seem to go out of there way to do a bad job designing road infrastructure in Saint John.

Maybe I am just being paranoid, but I challenge anyone to walk over it and say that the sidewalk and railings make them feel safe because they don't make me feel safe.

Sadly, I think my thoughts will fall on deaf ears, and I can't see the province stepping up to change it unless major repairs of the bridge occur.

[darkharbour]

That route you highlighted with the sidewalk that loops on the water side I always found very bizarre, namely that they put up chain-link fences on both sides of the walkway, including the harbour side. I'm sure it must have had something to do with port security or liability, but it always seemed like a huge waste to have a nice waterfront walk that was obscured by an old metal fence.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by bingun

This is my understanding of what they'll do. The King St W and Market Place intersection may need some changes to accommodate it, though.





Maybe I am just being paranoid, but I challenge anyone to walk over it and say that the sidewalk and railings make them feel safe because they don't make me feel safe.

Sadly, I think my thoughts will fall on deaf ears, and I can't see the province stepping up to change it unless major repairs of the bridge occur.

It would be good for it to finally be connected up with the rest of the Harbour Passage I guess, but again, it’s all a path that already exists, and will cost millions of dollars just so people can have cleaner shoes basically.

The bigger need is better connecting the West Side with Uptown, even if it’s purely done through better transit. Although, better transit (or a ferry) doesn’t help people walk back from the bars at 2:30am, so maybe the focus really should be on a Harbour Bridhe walkway… or a new pedestrian bridge funded by the province but not under the jurisdiction of the dreaded DTI.


I’d rather the city put the money aside for a better solutions for getting between the West Side and Uptown than beautifying this incredibly indirect, already existing route.

For all the millions incorporating these existing trails into the Harbour Passage will cost, we could invest in a bike sharing program to fill up the bike lanes and existing Harbour Passage infrastructure (which I had to admit is getting a little crowded for bikes)

I just have a hard time understanding why the city is considering this extension of the Harbour passage as a priority over much more meaningful investments to better connect the West Side.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

This has to be some of the windiest weather I’ve ever seen outside of an actual hurricane here on the West Side.

Power only went out once and was back on within like 20 minutes, which always seems to be the case. I guess we’re lucky to be SJ Energy customers and not NB power customers.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

This has to be some of the windiest weather I’ve ever seen outside of an actual hurricane here on the West Side.

Power only went out once and was back on within like 20 minutes, which always seems to be the case. I guess we’re lucky to be SJ Energy customers and not NB power customers.

YSJ reported a gust of 100kph at 9:31 PM. Lepreau has had a gust of 51 kts (just over 94 KPH)

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by darkharbour

That route you highlighted with the sidewalk that loops on the water side I always found very bizarre, namely that they put up chain-link fences on both sides of the walkway, including the harbour side. I'm sure it must have had something to do with port security or liability, but it always seemed like a huge waste to have a nice waterfront walk that was obscured by an old metal fence.

I've always found it bizarre that Riverview Drive West got that pedestrian overpass built, when that spiral sidewalk was already there at the top of the street along with the underpass with sidewalk at the bottom of the street. Like, I'm glad that street has good pedestrian infrastructure, since they are cut off from the rest of the West Side by the Throughway. Yet now we're going to see even more spent on pedestrian/ cycling infrastructure for Riverview Drive West? I think there's a few other places on the West Side that should see major investments in pedestrian infrastructure before this Riverview Drive West connector.

The yellow outlined area around Riverview Drive West has 3 major pieces of road and pedestrian infrastructure to get people over or under the freeway.




Yet, the red outlined area with far more residents, located directly across the throughway from the West Side's main shopping cluster has no direct way across or under the throughway like Riverview Drive has. It's never made sense to me why Riverview Drive got that Pedestrian overpass first.

There's people that can see Sobeys from their front yards on Molson and Montreal Avenues who chose to drive to the grocery store because it takes too long to walk there and back. There's not even proper sidewalks on both sides of Fairville Blvd, and turning left on Bleury street on a bicycle is not for the faint of heart.

Saint John's had the throughway for almost 60 years now, and Fairville Plaza has been the main retail node for the West Side for a few decades now. What does it take for something to get done here in terms of a pedestrian overpass? How can we get the provincial DTI to see the lack of pedestrian infrastructure linking Fundy Heights and Fariville Plaza as a priority?



I believe the land outlined in yellow here is almost entirely owned by the province and city? Can't link to state owned property on the SNB website, but here's the property beside it：https://paol-efel.snb.ca/paol.html?lang=en&pan=01686312

I've outlined the ANBL store in yellow too, as I assume the province owns that too, but perhaps not. Regardless, I've gone down the throughway from the pedestrian overpass at Riverview Drive many times, and I don't think a better location exists for a pedestrian overpass than at the end of Molson Ave. There's a lot of room to build a pedestrian overpass across this outlined area and replace the bollard that's there now.

On another note, I've always thought the unused land behind the home hardware outlined in cyan could be quite an interesting location to build some ultra walkable housing with good access to transit and lots of room for parking... but I'm much more concerned about DTI stepping up to build some property pedestrian/ active transportation infrastructure across the throughway in the the yellow outlined area. I think Fundy Heights has waited long enough for the province to build a pedestrian overpass to make up for the neighbourhood being bisected by the freeway. 😅 Hope someone at the DTI or connections to the DTI could finally get something done about this.

In terms of politicians to reach out to, I guess the local MLA and Minister of Infrastructure Chuck Chiasson would be the most logical people to reach out to about this area of concern... but if anyone has any suggestions on who else would be sensible to contact, it would be much appreciated.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by sailor734

YSJ reported a gust of 100kph at 9:31 PM. Lepreau has had a gust of 51 kts (just over 94 KPH)

Yeesh, that's quick. Still sounds pretty rough out there at the moment, too. I'll be surprised if the shed didn't loose quite a few shingles overnight.


Heard there were a few places around Fundy Heights that were without power all night...

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Simms Corner a National Trade-Corridor and a Turning Point for West Saint John.

It's seems Saint John's very verbose and loose with spell check city councillor is quite the little writer for "Your Saint John"




Speaking of "Your Saint John"... looks like Acadia Broadcasting has really upped their news efforts.

"Your Saint John" is a much more newsworthy name than Country94


Here's hoping Susan Holt, our MPs, and the PM himself have some truly bold visions for Port Saint John and the West Side beyond a fix for Simms Corner and better railways.


I think we need to be pushing for deepwater port expansion into Lorneville and possibly Mispec, and definitely engaging in more land reclamation projects in the inner harbour for port expansion.

I still think a tunnel between the West Side and Uptown would generate a significant enough amount of earth and bedrock to make some pretty significant contributions to land reclamation efforts at the old Sugar Refinery site and the decrepit pier at the West Side Docks that should be filled in and expanded where the tugboats are tied up.

Before we scoff at the prospects of a tunnel below Saint John Harbour connecting the West Side and Uptown, I'd like to hear why you think a bridge or a ferry, or something else would be more cost effective.

The last time someone argued against the West Side tunnel idea on this forum, I believe they used the cost of refurbishment of a 1km tunnel in Montreal costing into the millions as evidence against a tunnel being too expensive for Saint John. Meanwhile, the Faroe Island (population 54,000) have over 68km of undersea tunnels connecting their little arctic archipelago. (and those tunnels sure weren't built at the cost of $1 Billion per kilometer)

• Video Link

I think it would be very interesting to compare the short and long term costs of a pedestrian walkway on the harbour bridge, a new pedestrian bridge, a harbour ferry, and a tunnel.


I still think the port itself could benefit from a railway tunnel under and between the West Side Docks and Lower Cove, but think of the possibilities of even a two lane road tunnel with a bike lane and side walk between the West Side and South End... or even simply a bicycle / pedestrian tunnel + a railway tunnel for the port.

Saint John will never be big enough for a subway in our lifetimes, but it's definitely big enough for a a few tunnels beneath Canada's third largest port (and fastest growing container port in North America)

Think of how many acres of container storage is created with even 1 or 2 km of railway tunnels. Throwing in the pedestrian or road tunnel would basically be free tacked onto the cost of that.


I refuse to believe Saint John is too small or tunnels are too expensive to build for a country with a more $3 Trillion CAD economy. We're Canada's third largest port and hopefully will be Canada's second largest port once again sometime soon. Port Saint John deserves bigger ideas than what our leaders are currently pushing for.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Seems we finally have a date for JYSKs opening. Someone was offered a job and shared their start date online. lol (Feb 2nd)

By the sounds of, the “Grand Opening” will take place later in the spring. sounds like it should be open by the spring at the latest. I think they’d be smart to try and nail the grand opening with a BBQ and some sort of giveaway to create some hype for the store, as many Saint Johners don’t consider it a typical retail spot, nonetheless, it has a large parking lot and is pretty easy to get to coming off the throughway.

This building has been vacant or under occupied for a very long time, so while I usually don’t get that excited about retail openings, I consider this to be an unexpectedly positive development that sorta came out of nowhere, and that many thought for sure wouldn’t actually happen as the was the case for the last few proposals for this building. Happy to hear they should be crossing the finish line soon and finally opening the doors. I think people will be surprised how many people from the Kennebecasis Valley and even further away will drive all the way to the west side to check this place out.

[Ire Narissis]

Having worked in that building in one of its past lives, I will be very interested to pop into Jysk and see what they've done to renovate it!

Re. the talk of the Reversing Falls Bridge and its railings - maybe new concrete barriers could be in the cards for the overhaul it's set to receive after the Harbour Bridge is finally done? Provided those wouldn't weigh too much for the truss structure.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by bingun

There is a second public meeting about Harbour Passage, but they don't appear to have advertised it. It is on Tuesday lol.

After careful consideration and extensive discussions with City staff regarding the location of the trail, Glenn Group has developed a preliminary design for the extension of Harbour Passage, from Riverview Drive to Riverview Avenue. A Public Information Session has been set for the following date and time to allow residents and businesses an opportunity to view the preliminary design and 3D renderings, ask questions and give their feedback.

The following Public Information Session will be held in a drop-in format:
Carleton-Kirk United Church
Tuesday, February 10th, 2026
2:00 – 4:00 pm and 6:00 – 8:00 pm
1 Carleton-Kirk Place, Saint John, NB

There’s now a post on this:




I’d like to know how much this extension is expected to cost. The trail already exists today and is one of the few examples of a Saint John Cycling trail built outside of Rockwood Park. Saint John cycling was able to improve this trail for a very small cost and through the volunteer efforts of its members…

I expect this plan to pave the path and incorporate it into the Harbour Passage system will cost over a million, and won’t really improve the trail. Arguably, paving this trail will take away from the experience of the trail as it exists today.

The city could buy a lot of bikes for a bike share program for the cost of this “improvement” project l… which would actually be a viable active transportation solution for getting between the West Side and Uptown on a bicycle. If the city heavily invested in bike sharing stations along the Harbour passage and Main Street we’d see a lot more people riding bikes in Saint John.

The biggest reason I rarely ride my bike Uptown is fear of it being stolen. Bike sharing stations would eliminate that obstacle/fear.

I love the Harbour Passage, but I really think we need to get on bike sharing stations first, before more marginal, vanity extensions like this one proposed for Riverview Drive West.

E-scooters shouldn’t be the only form of readily accessible rental transportation… Saint John needs city bike rental stations (at non tourist trap prices) to fill those empty bike lanes.

[homebody]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

There’s now a post on this:




I’d like to know how much this extension is expected to cost. The trail already exists today and is one of the few examples of a Saint John Cycling trail built outside of Rockwood Park. Saint John cycling was able to improve this trail for a very small cost and through the volunteer efforts of its members…

I expect this plan to pave the path and incorporate it into the Harbour Passage system will cost over a million, and won’t really improve the trail. Arguably, paving this trail will take away from the experience of the trail as it exists today.

The city could buy a lot of bikes for a bike share program for the cost of this “improvement” project l… which would actually be a viable active transportation solution for getting between the West Side and Uptown on a bicycle. If the city heavily invested in bike sharing stations along the Harbour passage and Main Street we’d see a lot more people riding bikes in Saint John.

The biggest reason I rarely ride my bike Uptown is fear of it being stolen. Bike sharing stations would eliminate that obstacle/fear.

I love the Harbour Passage, but I really think we need to get on bike sharing stations first, before more marginal, vanity extensions like this one proposed for Riverview Drive West.

E-scooters shouldn’t be the only form of readily accessible rental transportation… Saint John needs city bike rental stations (at non tourist trap prices) to fill those empty bike lanes.

Also they need to pick up on the maintenance of the existing trail. Especially along the inner harbour, it could use some sprucing up! The city has this big urge to expand the trail but no funds to maintain what they already have!

[RaginRonic]

Originally Posted by homebody

Also they need to pick up on the maintenance of the existing trail. Especially along the inner harbour, it could use some sprucing up! The city has this big urge to expand the trail but no funds to maintain what they already have!

This may sound simplistic, but as someone who's followed the progression of Harbour Passage since 2003, I just want to see it finally completed. 2028 will be the 25th Anniversary of the path, and seeing the designs of what would become the Crown St. extension for the path would be awesome to see that and the West Side expansion finished by June 2028.

[DyAm00394]

Sharing this here from the retail thread.

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

JYSK finally has a grand opening date according to an employee, opening March 14th.

https://www.jysk.ca/

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

Sharing this here from the retail thread.

Great…just in time for Paddy’s Day!

Hope this date actually sticks.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Interesting to see they’ve taken the liberty to photoshop those horrid hydro posts out of the photo… can we take this as a hint the city/Saint John Energy will bury the power lines on Lancaster.. finally?

Picture of inside the store courtesy Al Babineau


Will be great to see this large building be restored to a useful business in the community. This location is easily accessible off the Throughway and has a large parking lot. I envision this venture will revitalize this marginal retail node into something of a third place for the community and a more useful location for consumers from outside the West Side.