What are your thoughts on the parking situation in the uptown area of Saint John?
The city is seeking feedback as it reviews parking throughout the south-central peninsula.
It has hired consulting firm Arcadis to develop a comprehensive parking study for the area.
Jill Good, operations manager for the city’s parking department, said it has been several years since their last study.
“We are seeing a lot of growth in the uptown, lots of density, and we just want to make sure that we had the proper parking strategies to support that,” Good told our newsroom.
“We kind of want to just make sure that we were having a better comprehensive look and having something more up to date.”
What will the study review?
The study will review current parking services, including inventory, capacity and demand, and make recommendations for future improvements.
It will also evaluate emerging trends like active transportation and greening parking services, and look for ways to enhance accessibility.
Good said the firm completed two occupancy surveys this fall where it looked at digital curb inventory using data from on-street parking revenue.
“It allows us to look at the peak demand areas and look for trends and also just in accordance with growth projections based on population and employment, we’re able to look at future forecasting for parking supply,” she said.
“It’s really interesting to be able to see where the demand is and then how we can support construction and growth in the uptown.”
Public engagement session
A public engagement session will take place at 1 Market Square (the former museum entrance on Level 1) from 6 to 8 p.m. next Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Good said there will be a short presentation at the beginning, followed by a series of panels to spur discussion among attendees.
“We’re looking for the residents, the visitors, businesses and developers and all of those kind of perspectives will help us gather both positive and negative feedback from groups to make sure that we’re developing the right strategies and support the right future for growth in Saint John, she added.
If you cannot make it to the public engagement session, Good said they will be holding a virtual session sometime in February.
You can also submit feedback through the Shape Your City Saint John website or in person at City Hall during regular business hours.
Good added they plan to present the results of the study to council around the end of March.
