Stavanger Drive traffic solutions en route, says councillor

A business owner on Stavanger Drive in St. John's says the traffic problem in the retail area is overwhelming, but a city councillor says some solutions are on the way.

"Saturday morning, Saturday lunchtime is pretty well a nightmare. As soon as the stores open up around 10 o'clock the traffic gets really crazy," said Peter Newman, owner of the Second Cup franchise in the big-box shopping area.

"Stavanger Drive, in general, can be a parking lot. It's almost impossible to get in or out of this location."

Thousands of people from all over Newfoundland and Labrador flock to the area for shopping. Newman said the development needs more exits and entrance roads and traffic lights to ease vehicle congestion. 

"This was a design that was not meant to handle this kind of traffic, these kind of stores," said Newman. "It was an oversight."

Area more popular than expected, says city councillor

Tom Hann, a St. John's city councillor and the chair of the city's planning committee, said the boom in housing in the northeast Avalon has made the area much more popular for shopping than business owners expected.

He continued that a new retail development near Southlands, in the west end of the city, should solve some of the traffic congestion. "When you look at Glencrest that's going to see some major retail development as well, box stores, power centre, and a mix of other retail, that's going to take the pressure off this area," said Hann. "Simply because the people coming in from outside [the city] will not  have to come down the Outer Ring Road and come here." 

Hann said the city also has plans to widen Torbay Road and add more access roads to the Stavanger Drive area, as more retail developments continue to be built north of the area.

"We can't stop development and we can't stop retailers who want to establish into the city," said Hann.

"All we can do is plan for it as best we can and make sure we take care of the traffic problems."