The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[Helladog]

More on the Harbour Bridge

Premier Shawn Graham wants the federal government to remove the tolls, forgive the $22-million bridge debt and pay $185 million for immediate repairs and future maintenance.

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/562364

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/562400


No money for SJ Airport....(figures...maybe if we moved it to Southern Ontario)

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/562411


SJ Heritage spotlighted in a mag...

Saint John's rich history is documented in the latest edition of Our Canada, a magazine published bi-monthly by Reader's Digest Magazines Canada Ltd.

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/560736


Good news for St Joe's

Province invests in retinal surgery program

February 05, 2009 - 5:00 pm
By: News 88-9's Denise Barkhouse

SAINT JOHN, NB - New Brunswickers in need of eye surgery no longer have to travel to Halifax.

The province is investing over half a million dollars for a new retinal surgery program at St. Joseph's Hospital, and the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation is donating an optical coherence tomography machine.

Dr. Dan Polya said the surgery program will drastically reduce patient wait times.

"The O-C-T will result in improved treatment and it will mean that the patients that aren't travelling to Halifax, at the minute to come here and have treatment, will be able to come here and have the same quality of treatment that they would have had in Halifax," said Polya.

The O-C-T machine will be ready for use on February 21st.

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

I think we lack a strong outdoor venue. I loved seeing Shakespear on the commons and dig it in the Gothic Arches too, but it would be great if we had a nice outdoor stage at Rockwood and if the one proposed for Rainbow Park gets installed.

This is a great idea! I would love to see outdoor movies shown for free at rockwood Park in the summer evenings.

[nwalbert]

I have thought for a long time that its not fair that we are the only ones in the province who need to pay a toll to use the highway. It would be nice to see this toll removed and the Harbour Bridge repair bill relieved from the city's budget.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

This is a great idea! I would love to see outdoor movies shown for free at rockwood Park in the summer evenings.

True. The Arts and Culture Park does this in KV and it's pretty cool.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

I have thought for a long time that its not fair that we are the only ones in the province who need to pay a toll to use the highway. It would be nice to see this toll removed and the Harbour Bridge repair bill relieved from the city's budget.

I wouldn't mind seeing more tolls put on highways - it's annoying though that we are singled out for this "special" treatment. If there were tolls on the highways, we could finish twinnings much faster.

[mylesmalley]

It still irks me that the Progressive-Conservatives did away with the tolls on Route 2 between Moncton and Fredericton. Doing so cost the government tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue because it forced the province to have to compensate the owners of the highway. I think it's probably fair to say that since that time, we've probably lost more than $200 million. You can twin a lot of highway with that kind of cash...

[Helladog]

Infrastructure Two lanes will be closed this summer and two lanes next

BRUCE BARTLETT
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Harbour Bridge Authority is seeking bids from firms interested in replacing the deck of the entire bridge over two years - a project that engineers have estimated will cost in the $27-million range.

"That's all we will have going on this summer that will affect traffic," said Ken Anthony, the authority's general manager.

Two lanes of the bridge will be shut down and the concrete surface will be removed to below the level where the steel rebar is located, he said. The sidewalls of the bridge, light pole standards and the median barrier will also be replaced.

"So it will be two lanes one year and two lanes the next," he said.

The bridge authority has never replaced the concrete to this depth before, he said.

"We have done what we call overlays over the years on one or two sections," he said.

That involved removing 2.5 to five centimetres of concrete and replacing it with an overlay of concrete, he said. The new project will take off about 15 centimetres of concrete.

"That gets you below a netting of steel rebar in the concrete and the new concrete will go over that," he said.

It is necessary to go that deep because salt in the concrete is reacting with the steel and any rust found on the rebar will be removed before new concrete is poured, he said.

"It cause potholes, chipping and cracking and that sort of thing and the only way to remedy that is to blast down below the rebar, get all the rust off the rebar and relay the concrete," he said.

Concrete technology has improved since the bridge was built, so the new product will be much harder and last much longer, he said.

A copy of the tender documents can be viewed at the authority's office 29 King St. W.

[MStuart]

Long time reader; first time poster:

The Harbour Bridge needs this work despite the inconvience to the traffic flow. It's 40years old and the recent paint job looks good but the deck needs the work too.

[kwajo]

Welcome to the forum MStuart, I'm sure I am not the only one here who is glad to have another Saint Johner contribute to the discussion. So welcome again!

[Helladog]

Long time reader; first time poster:

Welcome!

[Helladog]

Another major West Side infrastruicture project...

Simms Corner, phase one, starts in May

SANDRA DAVIS
Telegraph-Journal

SAINT JOHN - Tenders will be called within a month for $1.4-million worth of work that will be the first step in reconfiguring Simms Corner.

Reconstruction of the Catherwood Street/Fairville Boulevard intersection that will extend beyond the lower entrance of Lancaster Mall will be included in this first phase, Paul Groody said Friday. Groody is the city's commissioner of municipal operations.

Construction will start in May. The design for the larger project will be complete by the end of the year, he said.

The initial work will also include realigning Harding Street West with the mall's lower entrance and the installation of traffic lights and sidewalks.

"A lot of traffic goes through there," Groody said.

"It will be arranged to allow for the future development of this whole area, not only on the Lancaster Mall side but on the other side as well.

"It will make for a better connection from Harding Street West and that connection will be aligned with the entrance to the mall.

From a traffic safety point of view, that's extremely important."

In the end, Simms Corner will be a signalized area that is pedestrian friendly and designed with bicycle lanes and sidewalks, Groody said.

The first phase is part of a much bigger $8.4-million project that involves a complete reconstruction of everything from the Catherwood Street/Fairville Boulevard intersection to the Reversing Falls Bridge, along with significant reconstruction on Main Street West and Lancaster Avenue.

The second phase, worth $3.5 million, involves giving a new Bridge Road a more direct route to the Reversing Falls bridge by cutting into the hill of the former Centracare property, relocating the Irving Oil Ltd. crude lines that run through the area and reconstructing a retaining wall along Fairville Boulevard, next door to Lancaster Mall.

The third phase involves street reconstruction from the entrance of Lancaster Mall all the way to the Reversing Falls bridge, up Main Street and Lancaster Avenue, at a cost of $3.5 million.

"In addition to street reconstruction, we need to make sure we work very closely with Irving Pulp and Paper and the tourist area to make sure access is co-ordinated with this project," he said."There needs to be some realignment of those access points."

Preliminary discussions have been held with Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd. and with Waterfront Development, Saint John Energy, Saint John Transit, Aliant, N.B. Southern Railway, which has two crossings that will be affected, Transport Canada, and Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline.

NB Power has a high-voltage transmission line going through the area and the Irving Oil crude pipeline to Coleson Cove needs to be relocated.

"This isn't just a typical street project," Groody said.

The city also has to keep in mind the work that is planned for the Harbour Bridge because it and the Reversing Falls bridge cannot be under major reconstruction at the same time; the entire deck of the Harbour Bridge will be replaced over the next two years at a cost of $27 million.

Simms Corner work also needs to be co-ordinated with a Saint John Water project that will see two new pipelines under the Reversing Falls bridge.

Because the improvements will take place on roads with provincial designation, the city is calling for the province to pitch in and also for federal money under special infrastructure funding that was announced in the budget.

"I don't think it's fair to the municipality to have to pay the full cost of this reconstruction," Groody said.

"We're doing our utmost to bring in other partners who should have a part in this."

Subject to funding and other logistical details such as land acquisition and contractor availability, the plan is to tackle phase two in 2011 and phase three in 2012.

"It's in everybody's best interest to have this reconstruction," Groody said, noting it gets truck traffic off Harding Street and Main Street West.

"It's good for truck access to the highway and given that, it's good for everybody else."

[MStuart]

Simms corner has been in need of a change for years!

I'm not from SJ originally (Charlotte County) and I remember coming to the city on the West Side and how 'scary' the road was and more-less confusing.

It should be interesting how the 2 bridges for SJ will change in the next 5 years!

[Sabien]

Even though I'm not a fan of hockey, I went to the first annual Pavillion Cup Pond Hockey Tournement at Lily Lake this weekend. I was thrilled to see such a well organized event taking place in Saint John. I wish the city would get behind more events like this that really bring the community together and bolster civic pride/interest.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by Sabien

Even though I'm not a fan of hockey, I went to the first annual Pavillion Cup Pond Hockey Tournement at Lily Lake this weekend. I was thrilled to see such a well organized event taking place in Saint John. I wish the city would get behind more events like this that really bring the community together and bolster civic pride/interest.

I took in some of the event on Saturday. It's good to see the venue being used.

[MStuart]

Rockwood has a lot of potential for things like this and events in the summer.

Glad to see it being used; thanks for the pics

[michael_d40]

Lexus dealership targets a June opening
Published Monday February 9th, 2009

Speak Up

SAINT JOHN - The first Lexus dealership in New Brunswick - and second in Atlantic Canada - is coming to Rothesay Avenue.

The luxury vehicle dealer is expected to set up shop at the former Saint John Saturn location along the commercial strip by early June. The site will be expanded to 18,600 square feet, offering every Lexus make and model, with about 18 new employees to run the operation.

"It's taken me about 12 years to convince Lexus to come to New Brunswick," said Keary Coyle, owner of Lexus of Saint John. "With the energy boom in Saint John, we just felt that this city was the right place for a Lexus store."

Lexus' expansion comes as luxury car dealers across the world are facing shrinking sales. Global sales of BMW cars in January dropped 22 per cent from the previous year, while Audi saw sales decline by nearly one-third last month over the same period last year, according an Associated Press report.

Lexus also faced sales declines in January, with its passenger cars selling nearly 38 per cent less than the same month last year, while sales of light trucks were down by about 21 per cent.

A Lexus spokeswoman declined to comment on the Saint John expansion, saying the company has not yet made a formal announcement.

Coyle said he's conducted a market study with prospective customers and found a Port City location is feasible. He said business at his other dealerships has been stable, despite the economic downturn. Coyle said he expects the dealership will draw big spenders from across the province, bringing more customers to the east end of the city.

"Lexus will bring a lot of out-of-town customers to the city," said Coyle, also the owner of the Preferred Collision Centre, Coyle Nissan and Saint John Toyota. "When the rumours began to spread about Lexus coming to Saint John, we received a ton of phone calls from outside the city. It's going to be a great draw for Saint John."

Im looking forward to trading me 09 Toyota in for a 2010 Lexus.
Bring it on!

[kwajo]

Construction Grand dining hall is expected to open in two weeks
C5
MARY-ELLEN SAUNDERS
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

ROTHESAY - It has taken almost one year and more than $2 million to build the grand dining hall that will seat the 250 students at Rothesay Netherwood School as they sit together each day for a formal meal.

Construction workers installed the last of the kitchen appliances, put up the rest of the white kitchen tiles and carried in boxes of table cloths on Friday afternoon.

The dining hall will open in two weeks.

The kitchen is lined with stainless steel ovens, dishwashers, deep fryers and waffle makers. It is an open concept kitchen where students can watch the cooks as they pick out their meals from display cases lit up by hanging lights.

Trolleys which will be turned into meal carts sat in the corner, waiting to be filled.

Light poured into the large dining room from the skylights circled by wooden chandeliers and the seven floor to ceiling windows. The room is elegant with high ceilings, a patterned hardwood floor and small round tables with matching wooden chairs.

Paul Kitchen, headmaster of the private school located on a secluded hill in Rothesay, said the school's students study hard, work hard and deserve the facilities that complement their hard work.

"Not all of our facilities are absolutely essential for it to function, but if you are going to have a program of excellence, you need the facilities," Kitchen said.

The new dining hall will replace the current dining hall which is located under the school's chapel. The school's first permanent brick building - the chapel and dining hall - were built in 1923.

Kitchen estimates in the 85 years the dining hall has been opened four to seven million meals have been served to generations of students.

The current dining hall, a small space decorated with candle chandeliers and portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses will be turned into a new library.

Kitchen said when he came to the school in 1987 there were about 100 students and the population has grown to about 250 students. Half of the students live on campus and the other half live at home.

In the last 10 years the school has built nine homes for faculty and their families, a junior boys residence named Kirk House, the Collegiate administration building and a $1.7-million junior girls residence called Netherwood House which opened in 2006.

Kitchen said the school has raised about $25-million in donations over the last 22 years. He said the school plans to continue to upgrade.

Its next step will be to renovate the Hibbard Building which houses all science classes. Kitchen said the school would also like to add dressing rooms to its arena.

I was reading this article in the TJ about the new dining hall at RNC (I still want to call it RCS), and it made me think about how nice the campus really is. As much as I dislike RNS for various reasons (I grew up in Rothesay, but went to public school, which pretty much explains it), I think the campus is absolutely gorgeous and is a real feather in the cap of Saint John. It's amazing that you don't hear about it much, but it has some beautiful buildings, the nicest sports fields and theatre in the city IMO, and its grounds are very well kept (the view of the Kennebecasis is spectacular up there too). I used to play soccer and rugby there all the time as a kid and even as a "grown-up" I enjoy walking through the trails along Taylor Brook and Spyglass Hill. I haven't been up the hill to see the new building yet, but I thought I would post a few pictures from the RNS website just to remind everyone of how proud we should be of this unique New Brunswick institution.


^ I'm assuming the building under construction is the new Dining Hall.




^I like the exposed brick walls, but that ceiling is to die for.










^This is one of the nicest gymnasiums I have ever been in



Images from http://www.rns.cc


p.s. I guess it helps when your alumni list includes 3 of the 10 richest Canadians

[kwajo]

More good news for those of us that want to see public transit continue to grow in SJ. I rode the COMEX everyday for a month and a half during the Summer before I found a new place Uptown, and not only was it very well used, but it was also the cleanest and most polite bus I have even been on. I really hope it continues to expand in the future!

Bendable buses coming soon to Hampton, Quispamsis
Published Monday February 9th, 2009


C6
Erin Dwyer
For the Telegraph-Journal

HAMPTON - The province's first articulated buses could be ferrying passengers from Quispamsis and Hampton as early as May.

The Saint John Transit Commission hopes to take possession of two 18-metre accordion-style buses in March and add them to the Comex service in both communities come spring to help attract more passengers to the service.

On the Hampton Express, for example, some of the four buses carrying residents into the uptown are full most weekday mornings.

"The buses are full on certain trips and you can't do anything more to drive ridership," said Frank McCarey, general manager of the Saint John Transit Commission. "We prefer to see people have a seat for a trip that long. In fact, everyday now, we have people standing on the service."

The existing buses seat 44 passengers. The two new longer Artic buses will seat 59 - thanks to its bendable section.

"They bend in the middle so you're able to get a vehicle that's over 60-feet-long track in a turn better than a 40-foot bus," McCarey said.

"People look at them and say there are corners that you can't get those around. But any corner we can get a current transit bus around, these buses will go easier."

"That will allow us to drive more ridership," he added. "We haven't done anything to drive more ridership because the buses on the more popular trips are pretty much full."

The two communities will obtain the Artic buses in record speed.

Normally, it takes about 15 months from the time of order to receive the buses, which normally cost $800,000. But Hampton and Quispamsis will obtain their buses in about half the time at a lower cost.

That's because the two buses are manufacturer demonstrator buses that have been in use over the last year.

"One is currently in New York City and we think that will be available in late March," McCarey said. "The other one is back in the plant right now, but it has to be reseated. It was designed for inner city operation to carry a lot of standing passengers. We want to get more seats on them."

Last fall, the two communities applied for money to purchase the buses under the Canada-New Brunswick Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund, federal money set aside in 2004 to fund "green projects" that provide health benefits and improve the quality of the environment.

The goal of the Comex service is to reduce the traffic of 300 vehicles commuting to Saint John and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as eliminate the need for a new parking garage in the city.

Late last year, the province approved $450,000 for each community towards the purchase of the buses. The transit commission is paying the balance of the $600,000 price tags with money from its public transit capital trust fund that it received two years ago from Ottawa.

"So these two buses will be paid for using federal funds," McCarey said.

As well as carrying more passengers, both buses have emission motors that live up to 2007 pollution standards.

"They have a system whereby all the particulate matter from the exhaust is captured and burned off at different intervals and basically vapourized," he said. "In effect, there is very, very little that comes out of these buses in terms of pollution."

Hampton has also added a fourth bus stop in the town to better service its residents. As of Jan. 26, residents can catch a bus outside the Visitor Information Centre housed in the former railway station on Main Street.

"The Town of Hampton felt we should put a stop down by the travel station because a lot of people were walking past and going up to the stop near the Tim Hortons," McCarey said. "They felt that would be just a little more convenient for some of the residents."

The buses will now drive down Main Street after leaving the highway, pick up passengers at the stop near the Tim Hortons, and continue north, turning down Railway Crescent and passing by the blue bins before stopping at the railway station to pick up passengers. It will then loop back onto Main Street, passing by the Irving gas station, before heading up the Hall Road and turning onto William Bell Drive. Bus stops are located on William Bell Drive, across from Service New Brunswick, and further south at the park-and-ride.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

It seems that the housing on Queen Street that is fronted in part by a historic brick facade will be fronted with more brick:

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by kwajo

More good news for those of us that want to see public transit continue to grow in SJ. I rode the COMEX everyday for a month and a half during the Summer before I found a new place Uptown, and not only was it very well used, but it was also the cleanest and most polite bus I have even been on. I really hope it continues to expand in the future!

I've got a limo that's now 60 feet long...