Well, I see from the paper today that Louis Leger of DMCI is agitating again for on street parking on Main Street, and the resultant conversion of Main to a one-way thoroughfare (west to east) from Highfield to Lewis/Assumption.
The apologists at the T&T seem to be acting as cheerleaders for this enterprise.
This whole idea makes me so angry that it's hard for me to type without making mistakes!!
People,
Main Street is the only direct east/west route through the downtown core!!!!!!!!
Can you imagine the traffic chaos that will be created by diverting east/west traffic to Queen Street between Lewis and Archibald!!! People will
avoid downtown like the plague; I know I certainly will.
This will have the exact opposite effect that DMCI wants. They want on street parking in front of Main street businesses so that lazy patrons don't have to walk a half block. Instead, those lazy (and impatient) patrons will be so repelled by the traffic nightmare downtown that they'll end up going to the mall anyway!!!
The solution is
not on street parking. The solution is to build a couple more (convenient) downtown parking garages!!!
The axis of Moncton is east/west. For this reason, it's important to maintain the major east/west arteries (Main, Assomption, St.George) in such a manner that it promotes efficient traffic flow!!
To do anything else is pure folly!!! What will happen when the events centre gets built? If you want to move 10,000 people out of the core after an event efficiently, wouldn't it be rather counterintuitive to have the principle thoroughfare a narrow one way street? STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!!
If DMCI wants to make some of the north/south connectors downtown one way, I guess that would be acceptable
BUT please leave Main Street alone!!!
end of rant.