A major construction project along a busy uptown Saint John street is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
The work will see full closures and lane reductions along Charlotte Street between Union Street and King Square South.
City staff held an open house last week to give residents and business owners a chance to learn more about the work.
Jill DeMerchant, traffic and municipal engineer with the city, said the massive project will include work above and below ground.
“It’ll involve installation of storm sewer infrastructure underground and then reconstruction of the road surface,” DeMerchant said in an interview.
The travel lanes will be narrowed to accommodate a bike lane, pedestrian areas will be improved, and accessibility features will be added, she said.
Traffic lights will be upgraded at the King Square North intersection and removed entirely at King Street. A stop sign will be installed at the top of King Street while Charlotte Street traffic will have the right of way.
“That is actually a result of some extensive traffic modelling that we conducted that showed that putting a stop sign there will actually improve traffic flows by quite a bit,” said DeMerchant.
Business impacts during construction
There will be traffic impacts during the construction, said DeMerchant, especially between Union Street and King Square North.
DeMerchant said they have been working with local businesses to try and mitigate as much impact as possible.
“We’ll make sure we can maintain access for the businesses through there. They’ll likely be experiencing some delays as well, but we’re trying to mitigate that with them,” she said.
Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times throughout the site, said DeMerchant.
The contract is expected to be awarded by council on June 24. DeMerchant said staff have budgeted just under $2 million for the work.
Construction will likely begin around mid-July and continue through the end of October.
More Charlotte Street construction
Meanwhile, a second construction project along Charlotte Street gets underway on Monday.
The street is expected to be closed between King Square South and Princess Street for around 45 days.
That project involves road repairs and reconstruction, as well as new curbs, sidewalks, brick medians, street lighting, and underground power and communications.
Both projects are part of a larger street reimagination for Charlotte Street that will see a dedicated bike lane, fewer on-street parking spaces, and more one-way blocks.
City officials have said they plan to add a dedicated bike lane to the west side of the street between Union and Broad streets.
On-street parking would be restricted to the east side of the street, resulting in the loss of about 25 parking spaces.
In addition, Charlotte Street would become one-way between Duke and St. James streets, extending the one-way traffic flow along Charlotte from Union to St. James streets.
City staff have said the work is expected to take place over several years.
