[Moncton] Northwest/Magnetic Hill Developments

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

What exactly is being done at Berry Mills by Wheeler? Couldn't find anything on the city or DOT's websites.

Replacing a culvert under Berry Mills Road to help prevent flooding in Westbrook Circle.

Now that its finished, I hope they repave that entire length of Berry Mills Road!!!!

That section of road gets destroyed every winter & spring due to truck traffic out of the MID industrial park.

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Replacing a culvert under Berry Mills Road to help prevent flooding in Westbrook Circle.

Now that its finished, I hope they repave that entire length of Berry Mills Road!!!!

That section of road gets destroyed every winter & spring due to truck traffic out of the MID industrial park.

Personally I wish they would extend one of the roads from the industrial park to the new section making trucks have to take the TCH, or use the St George on/off ramps.

[Mapleton_Roadie]

I see heavy equipment in at the edge of the parking lot for rotary lodge. Anyone have idea what's up?

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Replacing a culvert under Berry Mills Road to help prevent flooding in Westbrook Circle.

Now that its finished, I hope they repave that entire length of Berry Mills Road!!!!

That section of road gets destroyed every winter & spring due to truck traffic out of the MID industrial park.

They are curently stripping the entire road way, and it seems even a section of the on/off ramps going North Bound as they had done some previous patch jobs on the ramps.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Mapleton_Roadie

I see heavy equipment in at the edge of the parking lot for rotary lodge. Anyone have idea what's up?

They're just rehabilitating the parking lot and entrance roadway into Mapleton Park by the Rotary Lodge.

[MonctonRad]

According to Mayor Dawn Arnold's FB page, city council has just voted to reverse the addition of bike lanes and a centre turning lane on the west end of Mountain Road. The traffic pattern will revert to four lane!!

I'm shocked that city council voted to approve this (although I do know that there was some confusion amongst drivers over the new configuration and some near miss accidents).

It will be a mess covering up all those new lane markings and repainting the road for four lane traffic.........

[Good2go]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

According to Mayor Dawn Arnold's FB page, city council has just voted to reverse the addition of bike lanes and a centre turning lane on the west end of Mountain Road. The traffic pattern will revert to four lane!!

It was chaos in front of the Irving and McDonalds/126 Intersection. Glad to see someone realized (quickly) what a mistake it was for that stretch.

[Feneant]

Mistake or not (and I agree it was a stupid move), that's more money wasted by this council. It seems like every morning on the radio I hear about how they've voted to spend yet more money (this morning it was to flatten out some Le Sommet Parc) and now this.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Good2go

It was chaos in front of the Irving and McDonalds/126 Intersection. Glad to see someone realized (quickly) what a mistake it was for that stretch.

I thought it was a poor decision from the get go. With left turning traffic into the casino, the TCH/Mountain Road interchange and the 126 intersection (with that very busy McDonald's), I was pretty sure nothing good would come of this.

This has ended up being a black eye for the bicycling lobby........

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I thought it was a poor decision from the get go. With left turning traffic into the casino, the TCH/Mountain Road interchange and the 126 intersection (with that very busy McDonald's), I was pretty sure nothing good would come of this.

This has ended up being a black eye for the bicycling lobby........

Now if only they'd do the same thing on the Salisbury Rd. I watched yet another frustrated driver pass a slower driver using the centre turning lane this past weekend.

[Demeshio]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This has ended up being a black eye for the bicycling lobby........

Tell me if I'm wrong, but from what I understand by your last sentence it's that you believe the reconfiguration of that particular stretch of Mountain Rd into a 2-lane + centre-turning lane was in part the result of a "bicycling lobby"?

Road diets are a trend across North America and for many reasons other than adding a dedicated bike lane to accommodate cyclists. Actually, for anyone who listened to Monday's city council meeting, the main reason for reducing the number of lanes was to lower the speed of traffic. I do agree it may not have been the right solution for Mountain Rd as it was for for Shediac Rd and Salisbury Rd. But overall data across NA shows that it works.

Road diets well explained by Vox Media in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs7jHvh7v-4

As for the "bicycling lobby", I'm hoping they're not putting their ressources into pushing for better bike infrastructure in the outskirts of Moncton.

[MonctonRad]

You are quite right. It wasn't just the bicyclist/active transportation lobby demanding the changes to Mountain Road, and there were other reasons to consider the "road diet" (decreasing speed, making entry onto the roadway from businesses less harrowing). This is understandable, but the city's plan obviously was poorly thought out and didn't take into consideration potential complications these changes could have on this complex bit of roadway.

The city is very pro "active transportation" at present, and while this doesn't necessarily bother me, the city should be putting their emphasis of expanding the bicycle/pedestrian trail network in the city rather than making potential rash changes to existing highway infrastructure.

[mylesmalley]

As an avid cyclist, I'm a huge fan of the network of trails the city has developed over the years. I'm very pleased to see the progress being made in connecting sections of the network like the Riverfront Trail and Northwest Trail. These separate paths are, in my opinion, significantly better both for safety and ride quality than on-street dedicated lanes, and especially 'sharrow' streets.

That said, there's no avoiding the realities of cost and space. Greenfield projects like the Humphry Brook and Northwest trails are a lot easier in new parts of the city and can take advantage of existing rights-of-way where they can. Improving bike access in parts of the city that are completely built up though is a real challenge. It's no surprise that 'road diets' are a tempting quick fix in areas that are suitable. For basically no money, the city tried to add 4 or 5km of paved trail to the network. With that plan abandoned, what else can they do? Ideally build a proper bike road, but beyond construction, there could be huge costs to acquire land.

[MonctonRad]

One thing they could do is what they did along Millennium Blvd. They kept a sidewalk on one side of the road, but converted the sidewalk on the other side to a bicycle path. This path is an integral part of the Northwest Trail.

Right now the terminus of the Northwest Trail is on Charles Lutes Road, less than 300 metres from Mountain Road (near the Petro-Canada truck stop by the TCH).

I believe Charles Lutes already has bike lanes (I think so anyway). It wouldn't take much to make an bike trail adjacent to the west side on Mountain Road going all the way up the hill to the zoo and Magic Mountain. A trail here might even still be within the city's ROW, and might not need any expropriation.

[MonctonRad]

There's a rumour out there that the trailer park in behind the NBLC on Mountain Road has been sold to a developer. Eviction notices may be forthcoming soon......

[MonctonRad]

Current status of the new anglophone middle school in the Mountain Way Estates subdivision (as seen from the Northwest Trail).



All the trees in the foreground are dead, and there is a swamp along this section of the trail. I presume they will be cut down and the swamp will be filled in. The new school grounds will be integrated to the trail network, and there will be a spur of the trail accessing the school grounds (for walking students and bicyclists).

For reference, the new school will be nearly immediately behind the water tower in the northwest end (and the spur of the walking trail that connects directly to Twin Oaks Drive).

[MonctonRad]

Close to the Heart (a new baby boutique) will be opening in the Evergreen Plaza (corner of Gorge & Mountain Road) in October.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

According to Mayor Dawn Arnold's FB page, city council has just voted to reverse the addition of bike lanes and a centre turning lane on the west end of Mountain Road. The traffic pattern will revert to four lane!!

Well, city council has now decided to flip-flop on the flip flop!!!

They have decided to keep the current three lane (and bike lane) configuration until next fall to see how things develop. In the meantime, the situation will be evaluated and city works will make a final recommendation.

It could even be that they may extend the three lane section in as far as Gorge Rd.

I am not against bike lanes, but my opinion is that bike lanes should be separated from the roadway wherever possible. Along Mountain Road, I would keep four lane traffic, but convert the sidewalk along one side of the road into a bike path. This has worked well elsewhere in the city, and I think it would work well here too.

In any event, the three lane alignment is a big mistake on the section of Mountain Road including the TCH eastbound on/off ramp, Casino Drive, the entrance to Charles Luted Road, the TCH westbound on/off ramps and the intersection with the 126 (Ensley Drive/McDonald's). There is a lot going on in this short stretch of Mountain Road and carefully designed dedicated turning lanes are necessary, not bike lanes.........

[MonctonianSentinel01]

Yeah this is getting way too out of hand. Why are we going backwards? I don't see many people on bikes around town do you? All for a bunch of BS, lets make our city a happy place where everything and everyone is welcome, including bikers!!! Well that's just great, but a bit of common sense would help as well. Your recommendation about a path on one side is good or use some grass space for a 3 foot bike lane beside each side walk, one direction beside one sidewalk and the other direction beside the other sidewalk (so bikes are going with the flow of traffic on the same side of the road).

[pierremoncton]

Bike lanes remain pending a study. It's the only rational decision after last week's knee-jerk motion. Funny how this forum typically rails against NIMBYism but it can't stand other changes that may require adaptation from the comfort of driving everywhere and parking anywhere.