A Saint John advocacy group is proposing $2.5 million in upgrades to improve active transportation.
Saint John Cycling has identified several projects it says will make the city more bikeable and walkable.
Nick Cameron, the group’s government liaison, said the idea started after a federal funding announcement in May.
Cameron said the government unveiled a new funding stream for infrastructure projects which allow communities to adapt to COVID-19.
“One thing that we found during the peak of the lockdown was that there were few opportunities for people to live a healthy and active lifestyle and one of the few things we had left was walking and cycling and getting outside,” said Cameron.
“The infrastructure can’t quite accommodate that increase in use let alone even regular use outside the pandemic, so that’s when we decided to look at some of the opportunities that had been talked about over the years, identify what we feel is shovel-ready for this program.”
The group identified eight spots in the city which could be improved to encourage more people to get outside while still safely physical distancing.
They include Ocean Westway, Manawagonish Road, Chesley Drive, Main Street, Station Street & City Road, University Avenue, Heather Way, and the Spruce Lake Trail.
Cameron said five of the eight projects would involve what is known as road diets. A typical road diet reduces a four-lane road to three lanes: two for directional traffic and one shared left turn lane.
“It looks at roads like Main Street and Chesley Drive — Chesley Drive is four lanes, Main Street is six lanes — and it would reallocate some of that space for active transportation for people moving by their own power trying to live a healthy lifestyle,” he said.
A map of the active transportation projects being proposed by Saint John Cycling. (Photo submitted)
Many people think road diets only benefit cyclists and pedestrians, but Cameron said that is not the case. He noted there are many benefits for drivers, such as improved traffic flow and reduced collisions.
There are also maintenance savings for municipalities as the road lane no longer has to be maintained at the same level. Cameron estimates the city would save about $60,000 a year.
“We know that a lot of these streets and trails have community buy-in, they’ve been talked about for over a decade in some cases, and they’re already on either the municipal plan or the trails and bikeways strategy or other documents as a priority for council,” he said.
The proposal also includes 22 kilometres of the Coastal Link Trail, an ongoing project to connect The Great Trail in Saint John to the East Coast Greenway in the United States.
In addition to local benefits, Cameron said the upgrades could allow Greater Saint John and New Brunswick to tap into the growing cycling tourism market surrounding us.
“We know that it’s a $500-million industry in the province of Ontario, a $1.2-billion industry in Quebec and a $66-million industry in the state of Maine,” he said.
The group already has a $150,000 commitment from Coastal Link Trail. They are seeking $2 million in federal funding through the infrastructure program and $175,000 from the province and the city.
Group members are expected to present to Saint John council on Monday.
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