Record construction year to cushion blow
Published Wednesday October 22nd, 2008
Economic slowdown | City says it’s in good shape to weather downturn
A1
By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
[email protected]
Another record-breaking development year in Fredericton will help to carry the local construction sector through an economic downturn, says Mayor Brad Woodside.
With volatility in the financial sector and Canadian banks tightening the rules on mortgages, Woodside said the fact that the city has construction projects on the books that will take another two years to complete will help the local economy remain stable.
"We continue to forge ahead despite some of the weak economic signals coming out of the United States and around the world,'' Woodside said.
"I think the real good news here is that our projects have been approved, financed, are on the books and under construction and will take us through about a two-year period which will keep contractors and keep people busy.''
Within a year or two, he said, global markets should stabilize and the city will be positioned to forge ahead.
"I think we're in a great financial position with the decisions we've made to carry us through some pretty difficult times that we have in front of us.''
Fredericton's development committee chairman, Coun. Dan Keenan, released details of the city's third-quarter construction report Tuesday.
Total value of construction for the first nine months of 2008 topped $122.6 million, and that puts the city on track for its best year of development.
"We anticipate this year that we will break the record of $132.4 million set in 2006," Keenan said. "Everywhere you look in the city, there's a new store, building or housing development under construction.
"I think we're very fortunate. We've got a lot of development projects still on the books to move forward and I think that will help us over the next short term ... certainly longer than the next 12-month period."
Keenan said the city's $75.5-million convention centre has started and will take about two years to complete. A seniors development by a Halifax-based nursing home company called Shannex will start this year.
The retail sector is expanding and work on the southside arena is slated to begin soon.
"There's a lot of positive projects moving forward in the next couple of months. I think it looks very good for the City of Fredericton,'' said Keenan. "I think there's still a positive environment in the city and that's a good thing.
"We're knocking on the doorstep of our record year of development and we'll see if we can reach that mark for this year.''
Government and institutional construction, coupled with commercial building, has dominated the building scene this year.
Commercial construction is at $20.5 million this year.
That's the second best year in the city's history, second only to 2007, which set a record of $28.2 million for the year. In 2006, the value of commercial construction for the year was $18.3 million.
Government and institutional construction is at $40.6 million, four times as much as the $10.8 million recorded for the same time period in 2007.
The University of New Brunswick's Richard J. Currie Centre for Healthy Living will not only draw more students to the University of New Brunswick campus,
but provide the community with an asset it can use, said Coun. Scott McConaghy of the city's development committee.
York Manor is constructing an addition to its senior citizens care centre.
Industrial construction for the first three quarters of 2008 rang in at $3.2 million, four times higher than for the same time period in 2007.
New industrial construction includes a Covey Basics warehouse on Alison Boulevard, a storage building on St. Marys Street and Urquhart Crescent, a Colpitts office expansion on Hanwell Road, and a new building for Praxair on Alison Boulevard.
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Citizens don't jam city hall for open house about traffic
Published Wednesday October 22nd, 2008
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By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
[email protected]
No one likes criticism, but the City of Fredericton really wants to hear all your beefs about traffic, says transportation committee chairman Coun. Bruce Grandy.
At a two-hour open house at city hall Tuesday, only four citizens showed up to have their say about what's wrong with the city's traffic system and offer their opinions on how to fix it.
The city has hired ADI Ltd. to update the capital city traffic study. The revised plan is going to guide street and bridge development for the next 20 years, Grandy said, so it's important for people to have their say.
"We're an open book for the problems in traffic. We want to know where your problems are, where your complaints are, where you think things need to be improved. It's all about getting out the negative side of traffic so we can do some positive things to improve it," Grandy said.
The city's second open house on traffic will be held Monday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Willie O'Ree Place.
"I would encourage people to get out and get their input in or get on our website and e-mail me or Mayor Brad Woodside and give us your suggestions about traffic and we'll forward them to the consultants," Grandy said.
Don Good, senior transportation engineer with ADI, said given the city's outstanding residential, industrial and commercial growth, it's time to update the study.
One key issue is when and where to construct a third crossing over the St. John River.
The Westmorland Street Bridge and Princess Margaret Bridge handle 70,000 vehicles per day.
"Twenty years from now, if that increases by 50 per cent, we might have some issues crossing the bridges," Good said.
Part of this study will look at how to make the city's two bridges run more efficiently. One concept is to use reverse lanes, turning three lanes of the four-lane Westmorland Street Bridge into southbound lanes during the morning rush hour and three lanes northbound when workers are heading home from the south side of the river.
The most probable location for a third river crossing is somewhere above the Tim Hortons on Woodstock Road.
That's because the northwest side of the city in the Douglas area is an area predicted to see residential growth in the future.
Planning has to take place now to reserve land for a third bridge, Good said.
The consulting firm hopes to have a draft to the city early in the new year, hold another series of public meetings to present the results and then report to city council with a final plan in February.
Cheryl Weekes of New Maryland came out to the meeting Tuesday afternoon to urge the city to do more to educate drivers and pedestrians on pedestrian crosswalk safety.
Weekes, who moved to the capital city area a year ago after living in England for more than two decades, said Fredericton should do what the British do and segregate vehicle and pedestrian crossings.
In England, vehicle traffic is given priority, but when it's time to let pedestrians cross streets, all traffic is halted and not only can pedestrians cross north-south and east-west, but diagonally across an intersection as well.
"(In Fredericton), everybody just takes the right of way and doesn't really look before they cross the street," Weekes said.
David LeBlanc, who lives on Reid Street, said getting up Regent Street is getting more and more frustrating.
"One would think I should be able to get up Regent Street and get to the Vanier (Highway) easily, but sometimes it takes half an hour to get up the hill," LeBlanc said.
He said rather than get stuck in Regent Street traffic, he'll drive to the opposite end of the city to try to work his way to the top of the hill to hit the shopping areas.
"It's just something that's a big bottleneck. Late in the day, in the afternoons, the street is just backed up bumper to bumper. You just creep so slow it's just crazy. It's frustrating to sit around and wait in lineups," LeBlanc said.
While he acknowledged Regent Street and Hanwell Road are the two main arteries in and out of town, the traffic situation will only worsen in future because most of the new retail and business development is taking place south of the former Trans-Canada Highway, he said.
He'd like to see the city consider a project that's long been in the concept stage - building an overpass across the former TCH at Smythe Street to Bishop Drive.
Fredericton's website is found at
www.fredericton.ca. Traffic engineer Darren Charters may also be contacted with comments at
[email protected].
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