[Moncton] East (Harrisville, Lewisville, Tankville, Irishtown) Developments

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The typical sequence of events here in Moncton (and NB) is for development to occur around an inadequate intersection/interchange first, then for traffic chaos to ensue (frequently with a few fatalities) and finally for improvements to traffic flow to occur. Usually traffic mitigation takes several steps over a number of years. i.e. - a few half assed measures that does nothing to really alleviate the situation until the governments are finally forced to do it right.

examples:

- Mapleton Road overpass over Wheeler
- Berry Mills Road
- Dieppe/Harrisville Blvd interchange with Veterans Highway

The Elmwood/TCH interchange will be no different. Expect final improvements to occur sometime around 2025.....

And you call me the pessimist!

[David_99]

St Micheal's Church (or God's Igloo) off Elmwood has just been condemned. It wouldn't surprise me if it's torn down and continue Masters Rd to create a 4-way at the Sobey's Parking lot.
Yeah it's a slow news day.

[mylesmalley]

I had no idea that even existed. How old is it?

[David_99]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

I had no idea that even existed. How old is it?

Well it was leaky and looked moldy when I was a kid 25 years ago, so... Probably pretty old.

[pierremoncton]

Pictures for posterity's sake. Along with the Filles de Jésus building.





Source: bing.com/maps

[mmmatt]

Apparently the new home hardware will be 4x larger than the current Elmwood location. Rumors in that area include: a Starbucks in the shoppers drug parking lot, old grocery store demolished for a strip mall, redevelopment of some sort for former lawtons forthcoming. This info from various sources in that area (where I was working today)

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

old grocery store demolished for a strip mall

This info jives with the address given for the proposed Elmwood Dr Pita Pit location, which is the same as the old Price Chopper. I would suggest it is a good bet that there may be a new retail strip going up here.....

[BlackYear]

From the News919.com web site

I don't think the school district and parents should be bullying the neighborhood businesses to move out and away. However, these two industrial park areas shouldn't be allowed to expand either. I don't think this is a place for these businesses to grow. IMO. And News919, if you're reading, it took me 5 minutes to create the map below. Google Maps.

http://www.news919.com/2013/08/16/co...y-from-school/

Council decision Monday could effectively move industrial park away from school Decision will be made on zoning of empty lots by school near industrial park.

Jason Chevrier Aug 16, 2013 08:45:53 AM

MONCTON, N.B. – The president of the Parent School Support Committee at Ecole Champlain says changing the zoning of four empty lots near the school would be a good first step towards improving the health of students.

Moncton city council will decide at its meeting on Monday whether to go ahead with changing the lots from industrial use to residential or commercial use effectively moving the nearby industrial park away from the school.

Parents have long complained about the health risks for their children due to the proximity of the industrial park.

The Department of Environment tested the area in 2009 and 2010 and found there’s no health risk to students.

Stephanie Hopper, one of the parents who have been demanding the city fix the situation, says there’s still be work to be done even if the rezoning passes.

At least one business owner in the area plans to speak at the meeting in opposition to the rezoning.

Bruce Nowlan claims the industrial park was there long before the school was built and changing the zoning will hinder any future expansion plans for his company.

[pierremoncton]

Would it be unreasonable to sell Champlain (for industrial purposes) and St-Henri (both of which are old) and to build a new school near l'Odyssée? I'd suggest moving them to Moncton High, but I don't know if the location is appropriate for children of that age. Wouldn't happen anyway.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

Would it be unreasonable to sell Champlain (for industrial purposes) and St-Henri (both of which are old) and to build a new school near l'Odyssée? I'd suggest moving them to Moncton High, but I don't know if the location is appropriate for children of that age. Wouldn't happen anyway.

I don't know about St-Henri, but I don't think Ecole Champlain is that old.......

If this scenario were ever to transpire, I wouldn't put the new school by l'Odyssee as there is already a francophone K-8 school physically attached (Le Mascaret). I don't think the old MHS location would be appropriate either. Someplace out in the Shediac Road area however might be a good idea......

BTW - Looking at Budyser's map, I think the problem is more the industrial lands rather than the school. I know that the industries were there first, but do they really belong in that neighbourhood? The school is there and the area is surrounded by residential properties. It might be more appropriate for the city to purchase the industrial properties, pay to have the companies relocate to one of the four industrial parks in the area and then rehabilitate the properties so that they could become parkland affiliated to the Humphrey Brook Trail. I know that this would be prohibitively expensive and therefore not likely to happen, but in a perfect world, this might be the better option......

[mylesmalley]

I think you guys are looking at it from the wrong perspective. Other than a bunch of parents that feel that their school is bad for their kids' health, what actual evidence has been presented that would justify the huge expense of moving a school or an entire small industrial area?

Parents have long complained about the health risks for their children due to the proximity of the industrial park.

and

The Department of Environment tested the area in 2009 and 2010 and found there’s no health risk to students.

directly contradict each other. Which one of those statements seems more likely to be true though?

Moreover, the 'health risks' clearly didn't stop large housing developments southeast, north, and west of the area.

Harrison Trimble High School is next to the Victory Industrial Park. Bernice MacNaughton is near the MID. The current Moncton High is between a busy collector road and a freeway...is there no air pollution or health risk from them? Mathieu Martin and that school on Gauvin who's name escapes me are both a stones' throw from the Dieppe Industrial Park... why aren't any of these schools at risk?

Now I'm not saying that public health isn't important, but we've got to make decisions based on something more substantial than gut feeling and conjecture. But if there genuinely is a serious issue then it clearly should be dealt with.

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

BTW - Looking at Budyser's map, I think the problem is more the industrial lands rather than the school. I know that the industries were there first, but do they really belong in that neighbourhood? The school is there and the area is surrounded by residential properties. It might be more appropriate for the city to purchase the industrial properties, pay to have the companies relocate to one of the four industrial parks in the area and then rehabilitate the properties so that they could become parkland affiliated to the Humphrey Brook Trail. I know that this would be prohibitively expensive and therefore not likely to happen, but in a perfect world, this might be the better option......

Hehehe...I knew someone would come around and type this out for me.

As for the health risk, some parents these days can be overly persuaded by fictional facts. Just look at Ontario. Some parents have been advocating that having WiFi in schools are harming their children and they're trying to get this banned. Yet, they live in neighborhoods, cities, work places completely surrounded by hundreds of open WiFi networks.

I think there's an ongoing trend to "Protect the Children" campaign which I see and hear almost daily. The latest radio add from Rogers is a recent example. "Get Rogers Home Security Protection - Would you buy a cheap bicycle helmet for your kids? Then why go cheap with home security?"

Anyway, maybe the parents are concern because the kids are taking short cuts through these commercial properties after school and taking home stuff they shouldn't.

And with the recent train incident in Quebec, last year's tire fire in the Toombs st park may have escalated this fear.

[mylesmalley]

I was thinking about WiFi paranoia last night too, but I didn't want to go on a ten-page rant about it.

The onus is on the parents to make a solid, scientific case. And even then, this isn't a black and white decision. If it were turn out that air quality is less than ideal, what level of investment does it warrant to address it? I guarantee putting up a sound fence and transplanting mature trees to line the edges of the property would be a lot cheaper than moving anything.

[pierremoncton]

Le Mascaret is actually 6-8. It might make sense to put a new K-5 school within reach so that families can settle in the same area for 13 years.

Champlain was built in 1969 and St-Henri in 1949 (http://www.gnb.ca/0000/inspect-e.asp). Regardless of whether or not the air is dangerous around Champlain, I've often been walking on the Humphrey Brook trail and suddenly smelled strong odours of asphalt. These strong smells cause students to be moved indoors during recess. Regardless of who's to blame, it's not a great spot to have a school.

And the district is requesting that a new K-8 school be built around the Champlain location (http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=11330). So why not just move it out of there altogether?

[MonctonRad]

Well, city council has voted to rezone the lands around Ecole Champlain to commercial or residential. This will not affect the existing industries on the properties as they are grandfathered.

I don't have a problem with this (although selling the land for anything other than industrial use would likely be a problem for the existing owners). This would likely be a liability for them in the long term.

In the short term, nothing will change, but perhaps this will mollify the enraged parents at the school.

Eventually I would still like the city to consider purchasing these properties for parkland and associate it with the adjacent Humphrey Brook Trail....

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

perhaps this will mollify the enraged parents at the school.

[gehrhardt]

Land is being cleared across from the Molson Brewery on the sharp corner on Macnaughton Ave. It looks to be quite a large parcel. Has anyone heard about this?

Since it appears to be a part of the same parcel of land (PID) as the Trailer Wizards building, maybe they are expanding?

[MonctonRad]

I see there is a sign up at the new Kent store on Harrisville Blvd advertising a job fair. Given the rapidity of construction, I expect this location to be open by November.

[habs33]

Sold sign is up on the old Dewares/price chopper building on Elmwood.

Also looked like this morning that construction started on the new intersection for the TCH off/on ramps besides DQ

[habs33]

The Thrift Store in the old Blockbuster on Elmwood is now open