The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[JasonL-Moncton]

Originally Posted by joeyedm

the federal government should NOT be funding any sports arena anywhere. These things are a local matter and should only be funded by the municipal and provincial level.

joeyedm you will find that to be a VERY unpopular opinion on this board...

[pierremoncton]

Originally Posted by JasonL-Moncton

joeyedm you will find that to be a VERY unpopular opinion on this board...

Can someone explain the reasons why the federal government should or should not fund sports arena projects? And why the municipal and provincial levels should or should not do the same?

I personally don't have an opinion one way or the other, but I'd like to read others' reasoning.

--

Some other notes:


Crowley Farm
I noticed paper signs posted on telephone poles across the city asking citizens to attend city council (on the 22nd?) regarding the Crowley Farm development. Personally, I empathize with the residents there who are about to lose the forest and the trails. I used to play and bike around that area when I was younger, and it's sad to see it go. I certainly hope that the development will be reasonably environmentally responsible, because I hate seeing areas being deforested. I realize that one alternative is sprawl, but another one is densification within the city core. If densification doesn't occur, I'd rather see stagnation than sprawl. I don't expect this to be a popular opinion here, but we don't need everything to grow to the detriment of resources.


Résidence Robinson
The third floor is going up and it already feels imposing with it being so close to the street. Once topped out, it should make a significant impact in that area.


Dieppe apartments
In Dieppe, the apartment building on Gould St is going up. I don't know how many storeys it'll be, but it has a large footprint.


Gould St
To slow down traffic there (it's a residential area with many young children and the rebuilt Ste-Thérèse elementary school), the city staggered street parking from one side to the other to force drivers to zig-zag, which seems like a good idea, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear of head-on collisions.

To further slow down traffic, they also very poorly built a round-about at Gould/Notre-Dame. They built an island in the middle, added round-about signs, but kept the 4-way stops! I'm told that they had yield signs up for a few days, then went back to stop signs. They supposedly had personnel watching traffic at the intersection, and because some people didn't know how to use a traffic circle, they decided to lower the rules to the common denominator. So instead of teaching drivers how to use round-abouts, they'll just allow them to remain ignorant, and with Moncton having plans to build roundabouts in the coming years, different sets of rules are going to be confusing. I hope that Dieppe city personnel follow this thread: your roundabout is an atrocity! Vous devriez avoir honte!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

Can someone explain the reasons why the federal government should or should not fund sports arena projects? And why the municipal and provincial levels should or should not do the same?

I personally don't have an opinion one way or the other, but I'd like to read others' reasoning.

As far as I'm concerned, in a smallish city like Moncton, it would be very difficult to raise $80M from the private sector to build a new downtown arena/events centre. I view this to be an important piece of civic infrastructure and vital to downtown rejuvenation. If we want this to be done, public involvement in financing this venture is mandatory.

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

Crowley Farm
I noticed paper signs posted on telephone poles across the city asking citizens to attend city council (on the 22nd?) regarding the Crowley Farm development. Personally, I empathize with the residents there who are about to lose the forest and the trails. I used to play and bike around that area when I was younger, and it's sad to see it go. I certainly hope that the development will be reasonably environmentally responsible, because I hate seeing areas being deforested. I realize that one alternative is sprawl, but another one is densification within the city core. If densification doesn't occur, I'd rather see stagnation than sprawl. I don't expect this to be a popular opinion here, but we don't need everything to grow to the detriment of resources.

As I mentioned before, I view the "vision lands" as an infill project. If development does not happen here, it will happen instead on the other side of the TCH which will only worsen traffic congestion throughout the city.

I sympathize with you point of view pierre and I too would like to see increased densification in the downtown but people with young families will most always choose relatively low density housing developments when raising their families. Subdivisions therefore will continue to sprout around the city. The vision lands therefore are the lesser of two evils.

I think what the public needs to do is make sure that the vision lands are developed in a thoughtful manner. Are you planning on going to the meeting pierre?

[Steelcowboy]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

On that note you may notice your friendly neighborhood FedEx jet looking a little larger within the next month or so

NICE ! ! ! FEDEX coming with their MD11 ?

[mylesmalley]

I'll do what I can to make it out to that council meeting.

[Sony500]

If the new arena complex is going to replace the coliseum which is owned by the city, then the government should be putting in money for the new one.

[JasonL-Moncton]

When is the council meeting in regards to the Vision Lands?

[joeyedm]

I have no issue with provincial governments funding arenas, as this is a local matter.

However its not the Federal Government problem that the city of Moncton cannot raise the 80 Million it takes to build an arena. let the province and city deal with that issue, leave the Feds out of it.

[riverviewdood]

I agree, should be local government funding the building... Or like they do in the states, corporate sponsorship.. The new arena can be called "Tampax Arena"

Though, if the feds want to, by all means...

[mylesmalley]

I've made the suggestion before that Majesta sponsor it. It could easily be nicknamed the Toilet Bowl!

[Steelcowboy]

Originally Posted by Steelcowboy

NICE ! ! ! FEDEX coming with their MD11 ?

I did a little research, Morningstar Express handles FEDEX traffic and up until July 2010 they only had Boeing 722's (727's) and a couple smaller planes, they now lease at least 1 Boeing 757...woot woot, it may not be the MD11..i'll settle for the Boeing 757 add some variety to what we see here.

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by Steelcowboy

I did a little research, Morningstar Express handles FEDEX traffic and up until July 2010 they only had Boeing 722's (727's) and a couple smaller planes, they now lease at least 1 Boeing 757...woot woot, it may not be the MD11..i'll settle for the Boeing 757 add some variety to what we see here.

Yep you got it...the 727s we use are getting quite old now and the new(er) 757s carry a decent amount of extra freight while using about 40% less fuel.

We just recently got much of the ground equipment to handle them at our depot...loader, stairs, tow truck (needs help to turn around on the ramp I guess) and some other items...unfortunately I wont be here when they start coming in (oct 18)...but I don't think Ill mind because Ill be in the Dominican on my honeymoon haha.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

unfortunately I wont be here when they start coming in (oct 18)...but I don't think Ill mind because Ill be in the Dominican on my honeymoon haha.

Congratulations mmmatt, many happy returns, hope you enjoy the Dominican (and your new life together)!

And re: the arena/events centre issue............federal money is almost certainly necessary for this. It's no different from federal funding for a convention centre or performing arts centre. This is a vital piece of civic infrastructure.

If the feds don't cough up, this won't happen and if it doesn't happen, downtown redevelopment and revitalization is a lost cause. We should be mindful of this and continue to promote the involvement of all three levels of government in this worthy cause!

[Steelcowboy]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

Yep you got it...the 727s we use are getting quite old now and the new(er) 757s carry a decent amount of extra freight while using about 40% less fuel.

We just recently got much of the ground equipment to handle them at our depot...loader, stairs, tow truck (needs help to turn around on the ramp I guess) and some other items...unfortunately I wont be here when they start coming in (oct 18)...but I don't think Ill mind because Ill be in the Dominican on my honeymoon haha.

AWESOME!!!! and CONGRATS we got engaged in the DR, Punta Cana what a place, I can't wait to go there again....I hope you 2 love birds have a blast there!!!! Oh, we did the Outback Safari Tour...99 bucks---well worth it very fun and interesting.

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

Yep you got it...the 727s we use are getting quite old now and the new(er) 757s carry a decent amount of extra freight while using about 40% less fuel.

We just recently got much of the ground equipment to handle them at our depot...loader, stairs, tow truck (needs help to turn around on the ramp I guess) and some other items...unfortunately I wont be here when they start coming in (oct 18)...but I don't think Ill mind because Ill be in the Dominican on my honeymoon haha.

It would be great to see some "heavy metal" in Moncton. If I remember correctly, Morningstar leases most of its planes from Fedex that travel inter-Canada. Morningstar provides staffing and maintenance mainly but they do operate a couple of 757's and an ATR42 prop. Now if UPS would open its own base here, that would help but they are partners with Purolator/Kelowna Flightcraft.

What would help Moncton airport the most would be another air alliance such as Oneworld or Skyteam being able to fly direct. We need American Airlines and Delta Airlines. I dont know if Continetal will remain for long since they merged with United Airlines and they are in the same alliance with Air Canada (Star Alliance). It will be up to Air Canada/United Airlines as to whether the service stays or not. Also, Expressjet operates the flight to Newark on behalf of Continental and they are not doing that great either.

Man, this airline thing can get confusing..................

BTW, Grats on the wedding/honeymoon.

[mylesmalley]

Welcome to the boards, Sunnybrae!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

I dont know if Continetal will remain for long since they merged with United Airlines and they are in the same alliance with Air Canada (Star Alliance). It will be up to Air Canada/United Airlines as to whether the service stays or not. Also, Expressjet operates the flight to Newark on behalf of Continental and they are not doing that great either.

Welcome Sunnybrae!

I hope you're wrong about Continental but I can see Air Canada raising a fuss because of the Star Alliance thing.

I thought the Newark service was doing OK..........aren't they still thinking of adding on the second daily flight over Christmas this year? I thought I heard something about that recently.

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

Yep you got it...the 727s we use are getting quite old now and the new(er) 757s carry a decent amount of extra freight while using about 40% less fuel.

We just recently got much of the ground equipment to handle them at our depot...loader, stairs, tow truck (needs help to turn around on the ramp I guess) and some other items...unfortunately I wont be here when they start coming in (oct 18)...but I don't think Ill mind because Ill be in the Dominican on my honeymoon haha.

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Welcome Sunnybrae!

I hope you're wrong about Continental but I can see Air Canada raising a fuss because of the Star Alliance thing.

I thought the Newark service was doing OK..........aren't they still thinking of adding on the second daily flight over Christmas this year? I thought I heard something about that recently.

Thanks for the welcome mylesmalley and MonctonRad!

I would think it would be more about airline politics than passenger numbers because of the alliance. Air Canada may feel that United is stepping on there toes and taking passengers from the Toronto, Montreal and for that matter Halifax flights. Moncton does not have the population to support multiple flights from airlines in the same alliance. These airline alliances have codeshare agreements and conditions that must be met and agreeded upon before any new route is open that effects another airlines "territory". With the "Openskies" agreement between the U.S. and Canada, another alliance (Skyteam/Oneworld) could come in and fill the gap if United(Continental) bails on Moncton. Thats just my opinion though, I could be out in left field.

[Lrdevlop]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

Thanks for the welcome mylesmalley and MonctonRad!

I would think it would be more about airline politics than passenger numbers because of the alliance. Air Canada may feel that United is stepping on there toes and taking passengers from the Toronto, Montreal and for that matter Halifax flights. Moncton does not have the population to support multiple flights from airlines in the same alliance. These airline alliances have codeshare agreements and conditions that must be met and agreeded upon before any new route is open that effects another airlines "territory". With the "Openskies" agreement between the U.S. and Canada, another alliance (Skyteam/Oneworld) could come in and fill the gap if United(Continental) bails on Moncton. Thats just my opinion though, I could be out in left field.

I don't think the Continental Moncton-Newark service would end soon because for now, almost each flights are full...

Just to have an idea (this is tuesday (16th) flight), one seat left! : https://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/travel/flightstatus/results.aspx?NFT=SM

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by Lrdevlop

I don't think the Continental Moncton-Newark service would end soon because for now, almost each flights are full...

Just to have an idea (this is tuesday (16th) flight), one seat left! : https://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/travel/flightstatus/results.aspx?NFT=SM

I agree that the flight won't stop in the near future. If and when it does, Jazz Air could take it over. One thing is for certain, the airline industry is constantly evolving. I remember the days when Air Canada mainline use to serve Moncton.