Saint John council votes to restore 2 lanes of an east end road after backlash

A road in east Saint John that was narrowed to two lanes this fall while the city pondered its future will be restored to four lanes after pushback from residents prompted a special meeting of council Monday night.

At the time Heather Way was reduced to two lanes at the beginning of October, city officials said the road would need a six-fold increase in traffic to justify four lanes.

Barriers were put up to keep traffic off lanes on one side of the median until a more permanent solution could be found.

But residents complained on social media and at a recent open house about the narrower road, a one-kilometre stretch that connects to neighbourhoods near Simonds High School and the New Brunswick Community College''s Grandview campus. 

The council vote to reopen all lanes of Heather Way was unanimous.

The road was the only item on the agenda, and council's decision was met with applause from a full chamber of  community members.  

"I think that's a good move and I'm glad that they made that decision," said Angel Martin, who lives in the area.

The reduced road space on one side of Heather Way had raised safety concerns among residents.

"It's a death trap, what they have right there right now," Martin said. 

"There's a lot of issues with the vehicles travelling back and forth, trucks, buses. It's not safe for anybody to travel that way — children or adults — at all."

Speeding a longtime problem

Some residents had worried the change would make a problem with speeding even worse. The road has been a known speeding concern for years, and one resident was killed by a speeding vehicle in 2008.

The city later launched a traffic-calming policy, which brought speed cushions and other measures to some locations, including speed humps on Heather Way.

A staff report said speeds have dropped by seven kilometres an hour since the bumps were added.  

Another resident at council's meeting, Lori Oblenis, said the city should add more speed humps if it wants to calm traffic. 

"If that's what they want to do to slow the traffic down, that's fine, as long as we get the road back open up," she said. 

Apartment construction is also underway in the area, which some residents said would eventually lead to more congestion.

4 lanes not needed, councillor says

Saint John has an infrastructure deficit of $545 million and staff reports have said the city can't afford spending money on  unneeded road maintenance. 

Coun. Greg Stewart, while supporting the motion to reopen all four lanes of Heather Way, said the decision to narrow it in the first place was made to potentially save money for the city.

"There's no way that four lanes is necessary on Heather Way," Stewart said. 

"And that doesn't matter how many apartment buildings go up on that road, you're not going to justify the traffic count. The truth is, most of us don't like change and this was a big one."

Stewart said the barriers placed on the road were not meant to be permanent but to get dialogue going with residents. 

"We heard you loud and clear. That's why staff recommended returning it to four lanes."

Bike lanes, recreation spaces were options 

The staff report said asphalt resurfacing previously planned for 2021 was postponed because some councillors at the time questioned the need for the wide road. The report said also said previous engagement efforts did not produce a general consensus about what to do with the road. 

This changed recently.

At an open house last week attended by about 200 residents, the city presented the issues and possible options for the road's future. Reopening it with resurfaced asphalt and all four lanes was one of them.

Other options included having only two lanes and selling the remaining land for housing, or turning one side of the median into "active/recreation space," and using the other side for vehicles. 

Another option was to put one bike lane and one vehicle lane on each side of the median. 

Overwhelming public response to restore all four lanes resulted in staff's decision to reopen the lane. 

"It was fantastic," Oblenis said. 

"Everybody in the room wanted the same thing and the outcome shows that a group of people working together sometimes can make it happen."