The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[cormiermax]

That Sobey's almost looks brand new, any particular reason why it closed? Also I wonder how Kent plans to change the exterior, iv never seen a Kent move into a store designed for another brand.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by cormiermax

That Sobey's almost looks brand new, any particular reason why it closed? Also I wonder how Kent plans to change the exterior, iv never seen a Kent move into a store designed for another brand.

It was almost brand new. For some reason, corporate management in Stellarton decided to open a new Riverview store in Findlay Park instead.

If I was to guess, I would say that Sobeys wanted to:
1- locate in a mini retail power centre to maximize customer traffic
2- build with a standardized floor plan (all new Sobeys look the same).
3- have a location where they could have an adjacent NB Liquor outlet

The old store however was less than 7 years old, so in economic terms, I was never sure that this move made sense and it left Coverdale Road with a large vacant storefront.

With Kent moving into the old location however, all will be right with the world again.

[JasonL-Moncton]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

Within the next 10 years I would love to see:

- Mapleton 4 lanes from Mountain to the TCH

- Berry Mills 4 lanes from (at the very least) Edinburgh to Horseman

- Harrisville 4 lanes from Caledonia to the 15

I'd also like to see the widening of Connaught from Mountain to Morton to 4 lanes...the traffic on this street justifies it (especially at rush hour) and with Morton being 4 lanes from the overpass to Elmwood it makes sense. Then it would be four lanes from Mountain Rd. to Elmwood which would be awesome.

Also with the Vision lands being developed Mclaughlin Drive needs a TCH on-ramp and off-ramp! This will also contribute to the amount of traffic on Connaught.

JL

PS> I agree, most don't have a clue how to work the Causeway traffic circle...

[josh_cat_eyes]

The best solution would be to replace the causeway with a 4 lane bridge and replace the traffic circle with a simple overpass. Again that damn railway f**ks everything up so it would cost a fortune. I think within 10 years, Berry Mills, Ryan Road, Champlain and Harrisville will all have to be improved. Also the aforementioned intersections will have to be addressed as well.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

The best solution would be to replace the causeway with a 4 lane bridge and replace the traffic circle with a simple overpass. Again that damn railway f**ks everything up so it would cost a fortune. I think within 10 years, Berry Mills, Ryan Road, Champlain and Harrisville will all have to be improved. Also the aforementioned intersections will have to be addressed as well.

Champlain/Lewisville is being improved as we speak. The work should be finished before the snow flies.

I have no doubt that Berry Mills will be four laned between Horsman and Edinburgh within the next couple of years. As I have previously mentioned, I think the government realizes they have made a major error here. Also, widening this section of the road should be fairly cheap. Personally, I think they should widen Berry Mills to four lanes as far inbound as the Coliseum and Millenium Blvd. Millenium is becoming a major shortcut to downtown and they could easily establish a dedicated right turning lane there. Also, the exits from Wheeler onto Berry Mills should be signalized and perhaps realligned. The current situation is plain out dangerous when traffic is heavy.

Ryan Road will be completely redone within the next 4-5 years. Major work has already been done to the east of the new roundabout as well as to the north of the new Northrup Frye School.

I think the most urgent bit of infrastructure not currently being addressed is widening the Harrisville/Dieppe Blvd overpass over Veterans Highway to four lanes. Harrisville should also be four laned between Veterans Highway and the TCH. Harrisville/Dieppe Blvds are the major crosstown connector for the eastern part of the metro area and this infrastructure is currently badly underbuilt.

[MonctonRad]

Not previously mentioned, but there is major work going on in the Mountain Woods subdivision across from Crandall University and adjacent to the Magnetic Hill Golf Course.

They are building a large condo or apartment building(s) in the back of the subdivision, which will back on the golf course itself. They are doing the underground parking garage now, and the footprint of these buildings is such that it should be as large (if not larger) than the Bella Casa complex adjacent to the Moncton Golf Course. The work currently underway corresponds to #4 on the site plan below.

Also, they appear to be building a new access road to Mountain Woods, directly from Mountain Road, across from the Homestead Road intersection (Magnetic Hill McDonald's location). I remember that this was in their plans, but it appears that they are now proceding with this. This road will be to the rear of the Magnetic Hill Golf Course.

Site plan:

[mylesmalley]

Jesus... that's going to be quite the development when it's done.

[MonctonRad]

Just found an updated site plan:



The access road leading to Mountain Road (at Homestead) passes through the "orange" area to the west of the subdivision. This will be a signalized intersection. There have been mounts for traffic lights at the Mountain/Homestead intersection for some time. They have just never been installed.

I see that they have renamed Magnetic Hill Golf Course to Mountain Woods Golf Course. The connector road to Mountain Road at Homestead will be called "Glen Eagles Drive". I have a strong suspicion that the club house will be relocated to being off Glen Eagles.

[mylesmalley]

Interesting how they seem to have changed their plans for the section with large presumably condominium buildings from the first rendering.

[MonctonRad]

One last thing, they mentioned in the paper today that UPS is going to start direct delivery services in both Moncton and Halifax in the new year. This will mean we will shortly begin to see the brown UPS trucks on Moncton streets within a few months.

The article stated that about 250 jobs will be created. They didn't state however how many of those would be in Moncton and how many in Halifax....

[Sunnybrae]

Interesting.... I wonder how much that will impact Purolator. Also, will we see a flight into the airport just for UPS or will they go with the existing 727 that Kelowna Flightcraft uses.

[macas539]

So much for limiting development to south of the TCH. Moncton is really sprawling northwards. I had no idea this was going to be such a substantial development.

--I just drove by the intersection tonight. They have trees cleared and heavy equipment building up the roadbed. It will be nice to be able to access Gorge Rd from this part of Mountain Rd. --

[mmmatt]

UPS will hurt Puro badly...as about 1/5 to 1/4 of their business right now is handling UPS freight. It will also hurt us at FedEx as well, although not as much because we don't currently handle any UPS freight. It will also be more difficult for UPS to steal our business as we offer a different product (higher cost, higher value). In other words Puro and UPS are virtually the same in terms of cost and product, so Puro will lose out more when something new and shiny (albeit brown) comes to town. I would imagine that there will be layoffs at Puro around the same time as the hiring at UPS...thus making it a "zero-sum" game as MonctonRad would say.

The 250 job figure is for all of Atlantic I think, as they will start in Moncton and Halifax in spring 2012 but by the end of the year they will be in more markets.

It will be interesting to see if they will bring in their own aircraft, or use a third party like CargoJet or something to do it for them.

Also interesting to see what kind of infrastructure they build and where...there is the much touted extension of aviation blvd after all. Or will they set up next to us and Puro for more visibility? Only time will tell I guess! Exciting times in the air freight business haha don't mind me.

[JHikka]

Is the introduction of UPS going to put pressure on Midland? I heard somewhere that Midland is handling UPS freight much like Puro is at this point.

As well, that new Mountain Woods development is something else. There's a lot more development north of the TCH than I imagined.

[mylesmalley]

That's just one residential development of many, unfortunately. Throw in construction at Caledonia Industrial Park, and all the stuff Crandall University is hoping to build in the next year or two, and the TCH won't feel like a Moncton Bypass for much longer. We don't talk about it as much, but the south side is doing the same thing. Just about all the land inside the triangle between Mountain, Mapleton and the TCH is filled with housing and commercial now (granted Mapleton Park is a big chuck of that). The east side of Mapleton is probably around half full now and is going steady.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

that new Mountain Woods development is something else. There's a lot more development north of the TCH than I imagined.

The thing that will spur development north of the TCH even more will be when existing developments become even more interconnected.

Glen Eagles Drive will be the first direct connection between Mountain Road and Gorge Road north of the TCH (and south of Front Mountain Road). This will make it eminently easier to move back and forth between these two neighbourhoods. Now, imagine if Glen Eagles in the future also connected onwards to Mapleton Road as well. This could be quite easy as Glen Eagles intersects Gorge Road at the northern perimeter of Crandall University.

All of a sudden, people in this area would have tremendous mobility, allowing access to hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, a zoo, golf course, a university and also direct access to the shopping district on Mapleton Road while never having to go anywhere near the traffic chaos on Mountain Road!!!

Once this happens, this area north of the TCH will become a very desireable neighbourhood to live in.

I think any plan to limit sprawl to the south of the TCH is already a lost cause. Probably in 20-25 years, there will be even further connectivity (north of the TCH), including between Mapleton Road, McLaughlin Road and on to Elmwood, including Royal Oaks and the Caledonia Industrial Park.

Then people will be able to live, work, play, go to school and shop without ever having to venture south of the TCH.

[mylesmalley]

Put together a really rough map showing what parts of the city are actually developed. Light brown is more or less built up today. Light red is what I expect will be added to the city in the next ten years...based on current developments around town and a healthy bit of conjecture.

[MonctonRad]

Nice map Myles, but I think you're being a tad conservative in your projections.....

[macas539]

I'm sure the entire "vision lands" area between Wheeler and the TCH off Mapleton will most certainly be almost fully developed within the next ten years. Work on the planned community there is already underway and will march on as the years go on.

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Nice map Myles, but I think you're being a tad conservative in your projections.....

Maybe in places - namely around Dieppe Blvd, but I don't think I'm way out to lunch.

If StatsCan's estimated population for the city turns out to be accurate, we're at almost 140,000 right now (137,000 in 2010, growing by 2,400 or so per year). Even if that falls back to 1,500 per year, it isn't unreasonable to think we'll be around 150,000-155,000 ish. I think a lot of that growth is going to take place inside the currently developed area. Mind you, we could get a big shock when the census is released and find out we're only at 130k, but even still. It's clear the city has grown and there's no strong indicator that will stop any time soon.

The city is going to continue expanding in physical terms, but we're starting to see real progress on the infill front. For the firs time in a long time, Downtown is actually one of the busiest parts of the city in terms of construction. Dieppe is growing quickly too, but there have been just as many apartment and condo units built there in the past few years as housing. Dieppe is also experimenting with sustainable higher-density single family housing in a few neighbourhoods. If you look at the major developments that have been proposed in the last year, just about all of them are either entirely medium-high density, or have some significant component of it. Just look at the Mountain Woods plan-sure, there's lots of single family lots, but it appears they're eventually planning on 13 buildings in the 32-64 unit range. Dieppe's big developments along Gauvin are all large apartments or condos. Even along Dieppe Blvd, there are as many apartments as houses going up. Even Riverview is on board!

In the last 1-2 years, Moncton and Dieppe have opened up close to 500 acres of industrial land. It'll take a few years before that land is filled. And now we have the added competition of the Scoudouc park which will also compete with cheaper land.

As for retail. As I've stated before, I don't expect we'll see much large-scale retail growth beyond population growth once the Mapleton project is done. We'll probably see some stuff go up along Harrisville pretty soon, but that'll start off as businesses that service the local area, like a grocery store or Canadian Tire.