[kirjtc2]

Man, is this going to be a nightmare....I work up the hill and Regent is bad enough during rush hour as it is...(and speaking of which, anyone know where I can find some decent traffic count data for New Brunswick?)

Gear up for traffic nightmares
By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
Published Friday May 18th, 2007
Appeared on page A1
It's going to be the motorists' equivalent of the road to Hades this summer.

The two-lane, spaghetti-strip Highway 101 that takes all of New Maryland, Beaver Dam, Charters Settlement and Fredericton Junction traffic into the capital city is going to be squeezed into a single-lane in and out of Fredericton in June.

That's 18,000 vehicles per day coming in and out of Fredericton across the overpass. Further down Regent Street, traffic counts pick up to about 20,000 to 25,000 vehicle trips per day with easterly traffic from Oromocto and area hitting the Prospect-Regent street intersection.

The Department of Transportation is going to strip the old asphalt and waterproof decking off the Regent Street overpass near the Fredericton Inn. That means traffic will be reduced to one lane southbound and one lane northbound during the four-week project.

"It will have a significant impact," said Department of Transportation District 5 engineer Norman Clouston.

"We will anticipate delays with people both coming into and leaving the city as soon as the work begins. I would expect you will experience between 15 minutes and half-hour delays at that particular intersection."

The provincial civil servant briefed the city's transportation committee Thursday.

The repairs to the government-owned bridge, built in 1959, will cost about $110,000. Work will start June 25, the Monday after school closes for the summer and will take about four weeks, depending on the weather.

The province was going to do the work last year, but the city urged the department to wait until this year in order for the Hanwell ramps to be completed.

The Department of Transportation will do the work with its own workforce, putting in 12-hour days Monday to Friday and eight-hour days Saturday.

Southbound traffic will have to squeeze into a single lane near the Prospect Street Irving service station. Northbound traffic will be diverted into a single lane 140 metres back from the Regent Mall main entrance.

Clouston said there will be no left turns onto Prospect Street. Instead, traffic will have to make a right-hand turn beside the city motel, link with the old Trans-Canada Highway and exit back at Smythe and Prospect streets.

The province has to work out a plan for emergency vehicles to ensure that fire, police and ambulance services can get in and out of Fredericton with the minimum amount of lost time.

For workers who come in at peak times, Clouston said, they'll have to find alternate routes.

"Use carpooling, alter your work hours," he said.

"Have flexible work hours where you can avoid these peak periods between 7 in the morning and 9 and 4 and 6 in the afternoon."

Councillors are concerned.

"You can't underestimate how much traffic goes through these intersections," said deputy mayor Scott McConaghy.

Coun. Bruce Grandy wants to see a solid plan for emergency-vehicle response at an intersection that's already extremely busy.

"I'm very concerned with that aspect," Grandy said.

The councillor asked the province if it had considered doing the repairs during the overnight hours, but Clouston said with two nearby hotels, the department was loathe to make noise at night disturbing the sleep of tourists and business travellers.

Further, he said, some of the repair work has to be done in daylight.

Transit manager Sandy MacNeill said the city has four bus routes that cross the Regent Street overpass and two routes have no alternative but to use the street even while the repairs are ongoing.

"They will be delayed," MacNeill said. "We will try to mitigate the effects as best we can."

Passengers will be notified of the potential for delays, MacNeill said.

"This is a big issue. It's near the busiest intersection in the city," said engineering and public works director Murray Jamer. "It's going to have a significant impact on the way traffic flows over the city," he said.

Advertising will be undertaken to warn the public of traffic changes and the city will try to lengthen some signal light times to let traffic move as quickly as possible through alternate intersections, Jamer said.