[Moncton] Active Transportation

[Nashe]

I love the shopping carts and mobility scooters going down the street near the curb on the wrong side of the street. And I've actually played "bicycle chicken" with a few folks doing the same thing. They get to me and go up on the sidewalk and then back onto the (wrong) side of the street behind me after they pass. Eesh.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

Wait until you see the number of cyclists that use sidewalks and crosswalks like pedestrians and don't follow any rules of the road.

We cyclists don't consider those "cyclists". The folks I generally ride with follow the rules quite carefully... my personal goal is to be as "predictable" as possible while road cycling. Right side of road, arm signals, rear flashing lights, helmets, waiting my turn at stop signs, etc. The sidewalk hoppers give us a bad name.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I see that the new dedicated bike lanes on the recently repaved section of Killam are now open, complete with the fancy green paint and flexible pylons (delineators) separating the bike lanes from the driving lanes.

I am not a big fan of the delineators. They tend to make the driving lanes feel artificially narrow.

The flexible traffic delineator pylons have now shown up on Vaughan Harvey Blvd. as well.

[Nashe]

Had a chance to commute through them all last week. (Weather this week not cooperating) Overall, not terrible. Kinda wondering if they are going to remove them in the winter or what... the base for each pylon appears to be bolted into the road and is raised about one inch... I don't think you can plow that.
The good thing about these pylons (as compared to a concrete barrier) is that it is still possible for a careful cyclist to pass a slower traveller.

[Nashe]

FWIW, I've done a bit of playing with Google Maps layers to see if I could trace, via satellite imagery and old searches, where the ancient railbed would have been that went from Moncton to Alma.

This is what I came up with: Old Railbeds

Some of it is very guesswork (down beyond Riverside Albert) where a lot of what I THINK are old railbeds are faint and/or meander off. I suspect there was one just N of the bridge on the 114 beyond Riverside, but I'm not sure... and the S route I have plotted is one I'm not that confident in.

I enjoy sleuthing this kind of thing... any feedback welcome.

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by Nashe

FWIW, I've done a bit of playing with Google Maps layers to see if I could trace, via satellite imagery and old searches, where the ancient railbed would have been that went from Moncton to Alma.

This is what I came up with: Old Railbeds

Some of it is very guesswork (down beyond Riverside Albert) where a lot of what I THINK are old railbeds are faint and/or meander off. I suspect there was one just N of the bridge on the 114 beyond Riverside, but I'm not sure... and the S route I have plotted is one I'm not that confident in.

I enjoy sleuthing this kind of thing... any feedback welcome.

Very cool, thanks.

Incidentally, are you aware if the old rail bridge over the Scoudouc river is to be used for the new bike trail? This would connect the new bike trails being built in the park south of Route 15 to the main Shediac-Dieppe segment.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by NBNYer

Very cool, thanks.

Incidentally, are you aware if the old rail bridge over the Scoudouc river is to be used for the new bike trail? This would connect the new bike trails being built in the park south of Route 15 to the main Shediac-Dieppe segment.

Not sure. As far as I know, it's just stone footings right now. I assume it would have to be re-built to be able to handle the pedestrian/bike traffic.

[LewisVillis]

Originally Posted by Nashe

FWIW, I've done a bit of playing with Google Maps layers to see if I could trace, via satellite imagery and old searches, where the ancient railbed would have been that went from Moncton to Alma.

This is what I came up with: Old Railbeds

Some of it is very guesswork (down beyond Riverside Albert) where a lot of what I THINK are old railbeds are faint and/or meander off. I suspect there was one just N of the bridge on the 114 beyond Riverside, but I'm not sure... and the S route I have plotted is one I'm not that confident in.

I enjoy sleuthing this kind of thing... any feedback welcome.

Looks pretty accurate to me. As an inveterate trailseeker/hiker, I've walked (and even biked) a number of these old beds, many of which are part of the NB Trail system mostly used by ATVs etc.

[MonctonRad]

There is a lane reduction northbound on the <unnamed> bridge (former causeway) as they begin construction to connect the pedestrian/bicycle trail on the bridge to the Riverfront Trail on the Moncton side. I imagine the work will be completed before the snow flies.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by Nashe

FWIW, I've done a bit of playing with Google Maps layers to see if I could trace, via satellite imagery and old searches, where the ancient railbed would have been that went from Moncton to Alma.

This is what I came up with: Old Railbeds

Some of it is very guesswork (down beyond Riverside Albert) where a lot of what I THINK are old railbeds are faint and/or meander off. I suspect there was one just N of the bridge on the 114 beyond Riverside, but I'm not sure... and the S route I have plotted is one I'm not that confident in.

I enjoy sleuthing this kind of thing... any feedback welcome.

The bridge to Harvey was actually straight across the field along side the lagoon on water street. The route they you follow is actually the old road. There was a covered bridge there once, but it was burned down one year on Halloween.

[LewisVillis]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

There is a lane reduction northbound on the <unnamed> bridge as they begin construction to connect the pedestrian/bicycle trail on the bridge to the Riverfront Trail on the Moncton side. I imagine the work will be completed before the snow flies.

Woohoo. (These little 'active transpo' infrastructure projects excite me more than they probably should.)

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

The bridge to Harvey was actually straight across the field along side the lagoon on water street. The route they you follow is actually the old road. There was a covered bridge there once, but it was burned down one year on Halloween.

Ooh, this is great information. So this pink line... was the old road? Complete with river crossing (you can see the pilings next to King Street). The rail was farther East? Can you pinpoint on the map where the old train bridge was?

The reason I thought the rail bed was near the (current) road is this raised artifact that lines up well with where the rail came down the shoreline. Plus this picture:

which seems to show the (smashed) rail bridge lining more or less up with the street coming down the hill past the church (I think it's still the same one there today in Riverside Albert)... Thoughts?

[Nashe]

Hmmm... this might shed some light on a possible path. Based on it, it looks like my original map might be pretty close (the shape). It looks like the railbed curves quite far around and terminates down equidistant (roughly) from Harvey and Harvey Bank, right where my "blue line" stops.

[MonctonRad]

They have further hardened the bike lanes at the bottom end of Vaughan Harvey Blvd with low concrete dividers. I'm not sure how necessary this was as the bike lanes here are reasonably separated from the traffic lanes. It appears these dividers are removable, and would have to be for efficient snow clearing in the wintertime.

[Mud]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

They have further hardened the bike lanes at the bottom end of Vaughan Harvey Blvd with low concrete dividers. I'm not sure how necessary this was as the bike lanes here are reasonably separated from the traffic lanes. It appears these dividers are removable, and would have to be for efficient snow clearing in the wintertime.

Just to idiot-proof them I suppose. I've already seen a car use it as an extended right-hand turning lane to St. George, clearly out of impatience judging by the squealing tires as he did so. Could've been dangerous for a cyclist.

[MonctonianSentinel01]

Originally Posted by Mud

Just to idiot-proof them I suppose. I've already seen a car use it as an extended right-hand turning lane to St. George, clearly out of impatience judging by the squealing tires as he did so. Could've been dangerous for a cyclist.

Yes I have noticed that the first two pylons turning south from Saint George Blvd. onto Vaughn Harvey Blvd. have been hit as they are smeared black. I figured someone might have done that on purpose just to test them to see what would happen but perhaps it really was a mistake by some not knowing they were there? Anyhow, those pylons are good visuals but I wouldn't trust my life with them, when I seen those I was a little disappointed thinking we as a city missed the mark here, so I'm am glad that they have reinforced those bike lanes with some low concrete barriers. Now they have to run up a curb to hit someone in those bike lanes.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

There is a lane reduction northbound on the <unnamed> bridge (former causeway) as they begin construction to connect the pedestrian/bicycle trail on the bridge to the Riverfront Trail on the Moncton side. I imagine the work will be completed before the snow flies.

#1 - the bridge now has a name (Honourable Brenda Robertson Bridge)
#2 - another lane reduction northbound is currently in effect on the bridge as they install a fixed barrier between the bicycle/pedestrian path and the adjacent roadway. This is not unexpected, and would appear necessary, especially given the speed of traffic here.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton outlines how it will spend $1M on cycling routes next year
City installed the first two sections of separated bike lanes this year
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Nov 17, 2023 4:59 PM AST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...anes-1.7031807

Moncton plans to fix what city staff called a "no man's land" in the city's west end for cyclists and pedestrians as part of an expanded active transportation network next year.

"We've just completed the connection from the new bridge to Riverview, and once the cyclist gets off that trail there's kind of bit of a no man's land before you reach Milner or the Riverfront Trail," René Lagacé, Moncton's director of engineering, said during a recent budget meeting.

"We want to build that connection."

The city's active transportation plan adopted by council in 2022 calls for the shared-use paths, which replace sidewalks, to be at least three metres wide.

The paths planned next year include:

- The west side of Horsman Road in the north end from Ryan Street to Berry Mills Road.
- The west side of Grand Trunk Street from Millennium Boulevard to the Northwest trail connection.
- The west side of Milner Road in the west end from Brookside Drive to Main Street.

They may not be the only projects, however.

Isabelle LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the city, said there are other plans in the works that could include installation of more bollards, lane markings and other measures on different streets, but the plans aren't finalized yet.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by Nashe

Hmmm... this might shed some light on a possible path. Based on it, it looks like my original map might be pretty close (the shape). It looks like the railbed curves quite far around and terminates down equidistant (roughly) from Harvey and Harvey Bank, right where my "blue line" stops.

They may have some info at the Moncton Museum on the old beds...that would be one hell of a trail system, almost like Dobson from Riverview to Fundy.

[Steelcowboy]

Originally Posted by Nashe

Not sure. As far as I know, it's just stone footings right now. I assume it would have to be re-built to be able to handle the pedestrian/bike traffic.

I'm not sure if you are referring to the 4 mile rail line that goes from Painsec Jct into the Scoudouc industrial park but, if things go forward..that dormant piece of track may be getting reactivated. Recently the line was revisted because there are possibly 2 industries looking to set up shop in the industrial park. Also we are in the works down at the railway museum in Hillsborough to reactivate the rail line to Weldon Creek. We have started up one of the diesels at the museum (CN 1754) , the yard is suppose to be entirely rebuilt (was to be done this fall but CN decided to have a few incidents and kept the contractors busy) if you see machinery at the museum in the next few weeks, that's what's happenning, will be a rebuilt yard at the museum, next year we will work on that mainline which has just been cleared of stumps n trees from Grays Island to Weldon. We may be able to run a motorcar {putt putt} haha the entire 2 and a half mile leg. To view the start up of the locomotive its on youtube, just search for CN 1754. That was done mid September after over a years worth of prepping.. the track work inside the building and a small portion outside along with working on the locomotive mechanically. Just a note..that model of locomotive that we activated is the only 1 in North America that will be operating, it is the sister locomotive that is at Kensington Jct on PEI which is the 2nd of 2 left in North America but its just a shell.