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  #1  
Old Posted Jan 9, 2019, 12:53 AM
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[Saint John] Transportation and Infrastructure

Thought we could use a dedicated thread for news, updates and discussion pertaining to transportation (all modes) and infrastructure (in the broad sense) in the greater Saint John area. I can think of a few projects on the go or in the planning stages that would be good to follow (see below), and I know a few of you out there are always game to talk public transit and transportation issues in general. I'm proposing this thread as a home for all of the above, to separate this chatter from the main development thread.

Some transportation and infrastructure projects of note:

MoveSJ Transportation Plan - Phase 2 wrapped up late last year, with a third phase to be started this year.
http://www.saintjohn.ca/en/home/city...j/default.aspx

Ashburn Lake Road Interchange - announced almost a year ago with a construction start slated for 2021.
https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/d...8.02.0160.html

Port Modernization Project - 7 year, $205 million expansion of the West Side terminal.
https://www.sjport.com/modernize/

Safe Clean Drinking Water Project - currently in its final stages.
http://www.saintjohn.ca/en/home/city...r/default.aspx

And what infrastructure list would be complete without invoking the spectre of the Energy East Pipeline?

Did I miss anything? Got anything to say about any of the above? Have at 'er!
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  #2  
Old Posted Jan 9, 2019, 12:57 AM
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To kick things off, Saint John Transit has announced it will be making some route and scheduling changes effective February 3rd. You can check out the new schedules here, while for the time being the old/existing schedules are here.

Below, I've put together a little roundup of the changes on the core routes, as well as an overview of the weekday schedule changes:

- Routes 5,6,7,8 have been eliminated.

- Routes 1 and 2 are replaced by routes 1A and 1B covering the same routing.

- Frequencies on 1A and 1B will be every 15 minutes during rush hour and every 30 minutes off-peak. This is an improvement over the 30 minute all-day frequency of 1 and 2, but note that with the elimination of 7 and 8, midday frequency from Uptown to Lancaster Mall/Fairville Boulevard actually drops.

- Routes 3 and 4 are replaced with routes 3A and 3B covering the same routing.

- Frequencies on 3A and 3B will be 30 minutes all day. This is a drop in service from the mostly-20 minute frequency of the current 3 and 4, however see the new routes immediately below.

- New routes: 9A and 9B duplicate the routing of 3A/B except they travel Churchill Boulevard instead of Millidge. Essentially analagous to routes 5 and 6 but continuing on through the denser parts of the East Side to McAllister Place .

- Frequencies are every 30 minutes from 6am-7pm, alternate to 3A and 3B, effectively making the McAllister-Uptown-Regional/UNB run every 15 minutes during that period.

Overall, the changes to the core routes seem to straighten out frequencies into either 30 or 15 minute intervals, which should make the system as a whole a bit more legible. They also eliminate some platooning of buses that was happening where 3/4/5/6 overlapped, better distributing departure times.

The full list of changes is available here.

This appears to be the first in what will probably be a series of changes as Saint John Transit works to implement the recommendations of the MoveSJ Transit Strategy.
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“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” –Lewis Mumford
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Old Posted Jan 10, 2019, 1:45 AM
Ire Narissis Ire Narissis is offline
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I can't see the Ashburn Lake Road interchange going ahead with the new conservative government tightening the pursestrings. Though it would be nice if they could at least help the city re-align the two back-to-back intersections into a single one... problem there, of course, being that it would mean acquiring one or more properties from their private owners.
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Old Posted Jan 10, 2019, 6:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ire Narissis View Post
I can't see the Ashburn Lake Road interchange going ahead with the new conservative government tightening the pursestrings. Though it would be nice if they could at least help the city re-align the two back-to-back intersections into a single one... problem there, of course, being that it would mean acquiring one or more properties from their private owners.
Think of it this way Irving Refinery is in SJ, and Biggs seems to love the Irving's.
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Old Posted Jan 10, 2019, 5:06 PM
thefishingnut thefishingnut is offline
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Quote:
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Think of it this way Irving Refinery is in SJ, and Biggs seems to love the Irving's.
Really don't see any relevance between the proposed Ashburn Lake project and the refinery.
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Old Posted Jan 10, 2019, 8:06 PM
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CBC article today mentioning that SJTransit ridership was up 28,000 in 2018 thanks to stability in frequency and routes. Any idea what the total is if the increase is 28K?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CBC
MacKinnon said they noticed a significant increase in ridership after not adjusting the transit system for the past two years.

He said ridership is now up by 28,000 compared to last year.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...ours-1.4972753
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  #7  
Old Posted Jan 10, 2019, 11:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka View Post
CBC article today mentioning that SJTransit ridership was up 28,000 in 2018 thanks to stability in frequency and routes. Any idea what the total is if the increase is 28K?
We're talking small percentages if it's only a 28k increase. The 2017 annual report states a rather inexact "2 Million +" rides provided (in 2016 the reported total was an estimated 2.1M, so if I had to guess I'd say somewhere between 2 and 2.1 million).
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2019, 12:05 AM
Ire Narissis Ire Narissis is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scarface View Post
Think of it this way Irving Refinery is in SJ, and Biggs seems to love the Irving's.
The refinery already got its dedicated direct-route interchange; an Ashburn Lake Road one wouldn't really be of any particular benefit to Irving Oil. Can't even really argue for it helping NBSR, considering that trains have the right of way always at level crossings so nobody can really get in their way. And I think that might be CN track at that point anyway.
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Old Posted Jan 19, 2019, 12:30 AM
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News from the main SJ thread:

Quote:
Originally Posted by ColSJ View Post
SAINT JOHN – Saint John Energy will issue a Request for Proposal Friday inviting developers to build a $30-million wind energy project in the Spruce Lake Industrial Park on the city’s west side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColSJ View Post
Here is an infographic from the SJ Energy website with a few details on the project:


Source

FAQ document, also from the SJE website: https://prismic-io.s3.amazonaws.com/...urchill_qa.pdf

It's cool that wind generation tech has advanced such that projects like these are now considered viable. Their timeline does seem fairly aggressive though, especially the EIA/public consultation phase. I guess they figure there won't be too many roadblocks.
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“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” –Lewis Mumford
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Old Posted May 23, 2019, 12:19 AM
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The City has received some federal funding to cost-share on a few climate resilience-related projects, totalling $11.9M in federal contributions: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...ound-1.5145105

1. $3.2M for seawall repairs at the Coast Guard Site. The City will be responsible for an additional $4.9M.

2. $4M toward the relocation of several sewage lift stations and one water pumping station to higher ground (City responsible for another $6.2M).

3. $4.5M to relocate the Smythe Street electrical substation (SJ Energy responsible for an additional $6.9M).
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“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” –Lewis Mumford
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Old Posted May 30, 2019, 1:49 AM
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A couple relevant items from this month's Finance Committee Agenda. Below is the summary report card for the City's 2018 State of the Infrastructure report:



It's clear that SJ is fighting an uphill battle in trying to maintain its assets, particularly its water and sewer infrastructure.

The agenda also includes several documents related to the City's draft capital budgets for 2020 and 2021:

Summary Presentation
Staff Report - General Fund
General Fund Capital Budget 2020
General Fund Capital Budget 2021
Staff Report - Saint John Water
Saint John Water Capital Budget 2020
Saint John Water Capital Budget 2021

Some highlights from the above:

- General Fund leverages almost $22M from external funding sources, with the City on the hook for an additional $20M over the next 2 years. This is consistent with the City's strategy to limit borrowing to a maximum of $12M/year as it works to reduce its overall debt burden.
- Full funding for seawall renewal at the Coast Guard Site.
- Targeted street reconstruction and beautification along the St. James Street corridor, consistent with priorities in the forthcoming Central Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan.
- The vast majority of the capital budget is going toward asset replacement/renewal rather than new capital investments: indeed, the only completely new assets being funded are the Field House ($564K contribution in 2020), and a dasher board and glass system upgrade for Harbour Station to meet new QMJHL requirements ($450K in 2021).
- Saint John Water will not initiate any new borrowing to fund its 2-year capital budget - approximately $10M will be funded with a 'pay as you go' (capital from operating) model while external funding accounts for almost $16M additional.
- As with the General Fund, Saint John Water's capital budget is almost entirely devoted to asset renewal rather than new investment.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these capital budgets are quite restrained given the City's dire fiscal situation. Still, they've attempted to put money where it will have the most impact (enhanced asset management efforts have no doubt helped with this) and also leveraged external funding sources to a great extent. Stay tuned for the City's 10-year capital budget plan that is set to be completed in Q4 of this year.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 4:36 AM
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Saint John Energy has announced that Halifax-based Natural Forces will be the developer for the utility's Burchill Wind Farm project. They continue to pursue an aggressive timeline with the goal to be operational for 2021.

https://huddle.today/saint-john-ener...ion-wind-farm/
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Old Posted Oct 18, 2019, 11:33 PM
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Natural Forces is making a presentation to Council on Monday night pertaining to the Burchill Wind Farm Project. The proposed layout of the 10 turbine option is shown below:

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  #14  
Old Posted Feb 19, 2020, 2:19 AM
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The rezoning for the Burchill Wind Project goes to PAC tomorrow night. The proposed layout is still more or less as indicated in the plan in the previous post.
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Old Posted Mar 11, 2021, 5:43 AM
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The 3 levels of government are contributing $38.7M toward water and wastewater infrastructure renewal and street reconstruction projects on the Central Peninsula.

Quote:
$38M water and sewer upgrades to be made to Saint John infrastructure

Saint John is set to undergo $38.7 million worth of upgrades to its water and wastewater infrastructure, some of which date back to 1872.

The project involves upgrading and separating a portion of uptown Saint John's aging combined sewer system, which will include excavating and repairing the water and sewer pipe system and designing and constructing additional wastewater infrastructure, according to a provincial government media release issued Wednesday.

The project will also restore 7.5 kilometres of roadway that will be affected by the work.

...

The City of Saint John is contributing $10.3 million, while the provincial and federal governments are contributing $12.9 million and $15.5 million, respectively. Ottawa's portion is coming out of its Green Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada program.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...john-1.5944322

City press release: https://saintjohn.ca/en/news-and-not...infrastructure
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“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” –Lewis Mumford
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Old Posted Apr 24, 2021, 1:07 AM
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JDI is proposing to expand their West Side railyard with an intermodal "Logistics Park" to be accessed off Dever Road.



More info: https://lancasterlogisticspark.ca/
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  #17  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2021, 2:12 AM
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CP Rail’s return to Saint John is clearly having a positive impact on the rail/port sector.
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  #18  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2021, 4:42 PM
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Any word on the Ashburn Lake Road interchange project that was supposed to start this spring? I have never even seen any drawings or renders or anything.
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Old Posted Apr 25, 2021, 12:23 AM
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I’m wondering if and when the city is planning to redo Simms Corner into either a roundabout (which will confuse poor SJers), or a proper intersection. This has been in the ‘planning’ for some time.
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Old Posted Apr 25, 2021, 7:46 PM
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Quote:
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Any word on the Ashburn Lake Road interchange project that was supposed to start this spring? I have never even seen any drawings or renders or anything.
I thought it was shelved wasn’t it? Seemed like a huge waste of money IMO when we have infrastructure that is actually falling apart that DTI needs to rebuild or fix first (ie. NB Museum for one)
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