Fredericton-Saint John Combined Airport

[Pugsley]

After being asked, I am sharing some updated images and initial research I did initially back in the 90s. As part of my Urban Planning degree, I choose to show how three separate investments could alter sprawl trajectory.

DISCLOSURE: None of the concepts recommended was supposed to halt sprawl. It was to demonstrate some of the tactics to adjust or alter the direction of sprawl, be it strategic development (aka airports), policy, or zoning.

I chose my home Province of New Brunswick at the time as I found the three cities and how sprawl occurred in each to be fascinating. The historic connections between the three cities (horse, steamboat, rail, car, etc) was also very interesting and made up a chapter of my report.

For this thread, over the coming weeks I will share some of the sections on how airport placement, particularly a centralized airport, would impact the three cities and a proposal for how to create an economic corridor between Fredericton and Saint John that drives growth, yet contains rampant sprawl.

IMPORTANT: If these posts result in nothing but mean comments, fighting, or unprofessional or non-constructive conversation, I will stop posting and delete. I am sharing this to provoke discussion and ideas. I already got the feedback of my dean and department heads on this in the 90s and I graduated as a result. So, let's use it for positive discussion, please.

[Pugsley]

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by Pugsley

After being asked, I am sharing some updated images and initial research I did initially back in the 90s. As part of my Urban Planning degree, I choose to show how three separate investments could alter sprawl trajectory.

DISCLOSURE: None of the concepts recommended was supposed to halt sprawl. It was to demonstrate some of the tactics to adjust or alter the direction of sprawl, be it strategic development (aka airports), policy, or zoning.

I chose my home Province of New Brunswick at the time as I found the three cities and how sprawl occurred in each to be fascinating. The historic connections between the three cities (horse, steamboat, rail, car, etc) was also very interesting and made up a chapter of my report.

For this thread, over the coming weeks I will share some of the sections on how airport placement, particularly a centralized airport, would impact the three cities and a proposal for how to create an economic corridor between Fredericton and Saint John that drives growth, yet contains rampant sprawl.

IMPORTANT: If these posts result in nothing but mean comments, fighting, or unprofessional or non-constructive conversation, I will stop posting and delete. I am sharing this to provoke discussion and ideas. I already got the feedback of my dean and department heads on this in the 90s and I graduated as a result. So, let's use it for positive discussion, please.

Interesting for discussion purposes but don't you think we are much too far down the two airport road for this concept to ever be seriously considered? Fredericton has had a bunch of money spent in recent years on terminal expansion and a runway extension. YSJ has had significant upgrades to ILS, the new centerline landing lights and the terminal. If you throw Moncton into the mix a centralized location serving all three cities becomes even more unlikely.

Where's the incentive for any government to take on this bound to be controversial and hugely expensive project when what we have is at least working to a certain degree?

Would it be an improvement? Quite possibly in many ways, but would government see the political benefits outweighing the costs?..... probably not.

To paraphrase...... perfect is the enemy of good enough.

[MonctonRad]

An excellent thought experiment and thesis project.

I am personally not adverse to the concept of a Western NB International Airport roughly equidistant between Freddy and SJ. Such a facility would also be beneficial to CFB Gagetown.

But, as others have pointed out, this project would be cost prohibitive and would give little added benefit to either Freddy or SJ (except for increasing flight frequency and perhaps a few new routes). I realize this is an important part of the calculus behind having an airport, but, is is worth the expenditure of a couple billion taxpayers dollars???

Again, congratulations on the thesis project. I look forward to perusing it.

[Pugsley]

[Pugsley]

[Pugsley]

[Pugsley]

[MonctonRad]

Very professional looking.

You make a persuasive argument. If only we could go back and do things all over again......

[Pugsley]

[Pugsley]

[Pugsley]

[Pugsley]

Enough for today...more to come!

[Pugsley]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

An excellent thought experiment and thesis project.

I am personally not adverse to the concept of a Western NB International Airport roughly equidistant between Freddy and SJ. Such a facility would also be beneficial to CFB Gagetown.

But, as others have pointed out, this project would be cost prohibitive and would give little added benefit to either Freddy or SJ (except for increasing flight frequency and perhaps a few new routes). I realize this is an important part of the calculus behind having an airport, but, is is worth the expenditure of a couple billion taxpayers dollars???

Again, congratulations on the thesis project. I look forward to perusing it.

As I release more, you'll see some of the added economic benefits as well as some of the creative "use sharing" that would have paid for or further enhanced the return on such an investment. Which back then was bold, but probably relevant today given world events.

Stay tuned!

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by Pugsley

As I release more, you'll see some of the added economic benefits as well as some of the creative "use sharing" that would have paid for or further enhanced the return on such an investment. Which back then was bold, but probably relevant today given world events.

Stay tuned!

Thanks for sharing your detailed proposal!

Would transitioning YFC and YSJ to become cargo focussed airports with some very occasional flights and private aviation be a feasible solution to make the millions already invested in YFC and YSJ no longer considered a waste, making it easier to justify the cost of a new Fredericton/Saint John shared airport?

Moreover, is it possible to keep YFC where it is, but build new terminals and runways at the midway point between Saint John/Fredericton?

People seem to get really hung up on the millions that have been invested into YFC and YSJ as reasons for why a shared airport can't or wont happen, but they also seem to ignore that YFC and YSJ could remain economically useful and productive airports focussed on cargo.

[Pugsley]

Hopefully some of the future uploads addresss this. Stay tuned.

[Pugsley]

So today, I'm providing a bit of the detail around the toll connector highway as part of some broader recommended road transportation improvements originally recommended in my plan for the province. In it, I talk about the need to focus on connecting communities WITHIN New Brunswick as opposed to infrastructure that by-passes it. I introduce the new toll road built through public-private partnerships, and the master plan of the actual airport.

Stay tuned for some of the more detailed pages on the various "ZONES" which make up the new Aerotropolis in the coming days!

[Pugsley]

[Pugsley]

[Pugsley]