Saint John to study traffic snarls

The city of Saint John will be looking into anticipated traffic problems around retail outlets on the city's east side.

Common council unanimously passed a motion by Coun. Bruce Court on Monday, asking for a report on the issue.

'It has to be addressed, there's no doubt about it. It's going to be a nightmare. I mean, a nightmare.' —Coun. Bruce Court

Court said he already fields daily complaints from constituents about the congestion along Westmorland Road and Retail Drive.

The area's retail expansion has made just getting out of driveways onto Westmorland Road a challenge, he said.

"Some [motorists] even actually go up and press the pedestrian light to get out onto the road, so that traffic has to stop."

Problem getting worse

With Costco scheduled to open at the end of the May, the situation is only going to get worse, said Court.

"It has to be addressed, there's no doubt about it. It's going to be a nightmare. I mean, a nightmare," he said.

"You have to be proactive, not reactive. It's too late later to try to do it. You may be past the building season, whatever. So I think staff has to look at it immediately."

Deputy city manager Andrew Beckett said traffic lights in the area will be synchronized to help ease congestion when Costco opens, but some traffic jams will be unavoidable.

"There's no question that when a store the size of Costco opens up, for the first several weeks there will be some traffic congestion issues," he said.

"The curiosity of people, people getting used to the flow of traffic in the area, those types of things."

The city is looking for longer term solutions, Beckett said.