from today's T&T
http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=12096
Plaza Blvd. bus hub temporary
Friday, November 08, 2013
Times & Transcript
By: Eric Lewis
The City of Moncton's transportation co-ordinator says options for a new transit hub for Codiac Transpo in the city's north end were limited.
After Target Canada asked the public transit service to remove its longtime stopping point in front of the former Zellers in the Northwest Centre, the bus service had to look for a new transfer point.
In the busy shopping area, options were few, said Stephane Thibodeau.
Ryan Street off Mountain Road was used initially, but that became cumbersome with buses needing to turn around on the street, the transportation co-ordinator said.
Thibodeau worked with Codiac Transpo staff to come up with a solution. They needed to find a place that would be near the former transit hub but one that wouldn't impact traffic too heavily.
Ultimately, they decided to create a temporary transit hub on Plaza Boulevard near the entrance to Walmart. Part of the outside westbound lane is now off limits to traffic so buses can stop and passengers can get on and off.
Thibodeau said the committee considered Mountain Road and Mapleton Road but those roads see much more traffic than Plaza each day, at 30,000 and 20,000 vehicles respectively. Plaza averages about 11,000 vehicles per day.
'It's very central to that shopping area … and also, today, the bus stop can be accommodated on that street because people think it is busy, but it's not a very high-traffic roadway,' he said.
Thibodeau stressed that the current setup is only temporary.
'It's temporarily there until we can further review how we can make it better on Plaza Boulevard and give us the opportunity to give a business case with respect to doing some modifications or expand on Plaza Boulevard where we can provide a more permanent (bus stop), if that's the location that we deem fit,' he said.
Thibodeau hopes to have a plan ready for Moncton council by summer of next year. A permanent transit hub on Plaza could see the creation of proper lay-bys on each side of the road with improved bus shelters, he said. But again, that's only if Plaza is determined to be the best spot. A lay-by is a cut-in section of road only open to buses for temporary stops. They can be found next to Highfield Square on Main Street.
Thibodeau said the temporary location will be monitored over the winter months, particularly during the busy shopping season.
The temporary stop opened last Saturday and Thibodeau said it hasn't created problems so far.
'It hasn't been too, too bad,' he said. 'It's actually working well. The motorists just need to pay attention. We have signs there telling them that the roads ends and you have to go into the inside lane.' Marie-Claire Pierce, senior transit planner for Codiac Transpo, said in October that the bus service was forced to move from the former Zellers location once Target took it over.
'We've had conversations with Target and it was understood that it's not something that they do at all their Target stores,' she told the Times & Transcript. 'So from what I understand, they have a guideline or a policy around how the front of their store looks and rightfully so.'
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