Parkway parking crunch: Park-and-ride pitched to solve problems in St. John's

Gerry Colbert, a former chair of the St. John's Transportation Commission, says a park-and-ride service in the city would solve traffic problems and improve public access to transit. 

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Colbert, who headed up the commission during his time on city council, said hopes to see a large lot of land on Blackmarsh Road, near Columbus Drive, paved into a parking lot.

"A thought occurred to me," Colbert said.

"Living in St. John's all my life, having gone to Memorial and going to the hospital, there was a possibility that a piece of land this big, this close to that huge traffic corridor, it might make sense to have some park-and-ride program."

His vision is turning the overgrown field into a parking lot, filled with shelters to fend off the weather and lined with fences to protect the cars inside. 

In turn, he said, there would be fewer vehicles on Prince Philip Drive. 

'It's so close'

"Especially in that congested area between the hospital and the CBC," Colbert said.

"You go to Memorial all the way up to the Arts and Culture Centre and then you go all the way up to Confederation Building and CNA. I can see a system where you have some sort of bus run back and forth every 10 minutes to these sites. It's so close."

Colbert, who represents the landowners, said his clients even offered to foot the bill.

"They'd put the big cash up front," said Colbert.

"Then over a period of years, whether that's 15, or 20, or 25 or whatever is decided, that it would be a lease to own so that at the end of the day, the university or the province or the hospital would in fact own this land."

Colbert put together a detailed package and made the pitch to various groups, including Memorial University. 

A spokesperson for Memorial said it considered the idea. 

After detailed analysis, it determined that the cost was too high for the university and that it wasn't financially viable. 

Memorial looking for solutions to parking crunch

But Memorial said is has created a Parking and Transit Solutions Committee, working with the students, nearby municipalities and Metrobus to help solve parking issues at the St. John's campus. 

It hopes to release information that it has gathered within the next month. 

Colbert still believes in a city that has become busier with cars that buses might help ease some traffic woes. 

"We are not talking about having to drive all over St. John's," he said.

"You leave this site and you are on Columbus Drive, one line up the road. You turn the bus around and [there is] one line straight back," he said.

"I was really hoping that this could have been a huge game-changer for the whole concept of park-and-ride for St. John's."