Water Street In Saint Andrews Going One-Way

An initiative designed to help businesses in downtown Saint Andrews get through the pandemic is returning this summer.

Water Street will be converted to one-way traffic from Edward to Frederick streets so businesses can expand onto the sidewalk.

The town tried it out as a pilot project last summer and the comments were overwhelmingly positive, according to Mayor Brad Henderson.

“A lot of people absolutely loved the one-way street. In fact, over 80 per cent of residents that were surveyed responded that they were in favour of the one-way street,” Henderson said in an interview Tuesday.

“The big thing about it is sometimes you have delivery vehicles that park trucks in the middle of the road and it’s dangerous to go around the on a busy Water Street, but with one-way, you can safely just go around them. A lot of residents preferred that, and as such, we brought that one-way back.”

The change along Water Street will take effect at 6 a.m. Friday and continue through Sept. 7, he said.

Henderson said residents and visitors will notice a few minor changes this year compared to the pilot project.

“The big difference is last year we had no parking downtown. This year, we have parking on both sides,” he said.

Henderson noted that “very few” businesses took advantage of the extra space provided to them along the sidewalks last summer.

For those who do want extra space this summer, the town is renting out walkaround for between $300 and $400 a year, depending on the size, he said.

“Three businesses, potentially four, have rented from the town walkarounds, which are similar to what you see in Fredericton where it just juts the sidewalk out so people can walk around with more distancing,” he said.

“For those that don’t need it, it will be kind of business as usual in front of them.”

Henderson said the town has engaged with the local Chamber of Commerce and the downtown business improvement association throughout the process to get feedback from them.

The mayor said the town is thankful for fellow New Brunswickers who have supported their businesses throughout the pandemic.

While New Brunswickers typically make up about 50 per cent of visitors to the town, Henderson said that number soared to 90 per cent last year.

“I can tell you that the majority of businesses in our town were so thankful and so overwhelmed at the amount of support that fellow New Brunswickers demonstrated by visiting our community last year,” he said.

New Brunswick expects to lift all pandemic restrictions in early August, depending on vaccination rates, but Henderson said the one-way street will stay in place throughout the summer.

He said the town may also consider allowing businesses to rent walkarounds even after the pandemic is over.

“It’s always a balance when you’re making changes in your downtown,” said Henderson. “You want to make sure that your street is everything that people are looking for, but in the same sense, we have such a historic feel to our downtown that you want to make sure that you’re not altering the historic charm of it either.”