Saint John council has awarded a contract for the city’s first roundabout.
The $1.6-million project will take place at Sandy Point Road and Foster Thurston Drive.
Michael Baker, the city’s engineering director, said construction is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
“Probably the end of July, early August. It has to be substantially completed by October 15th,” Baker told council Monday night.
City staff recently made several changes in the area to reduce speeds until the roundabout could be installed.
That includes lowering the speed limit to 40 kilometres per hour, using traffic paint to narrow the travel lanes and installing temporary centre bollards.
Coun. Gary Sullivan said he is excited to see this long-awaited project become a reality over the coming weeks.
“Many conversations I’ve had with my neighbours out in Millidgeville, even folks who don’t usually talk about municipal politics, people are quite excited about being able to safely navigate Sandy Point Road,” said Sullivan.
City staff said the project came in under budget, and they are expecting to recover more than $500,000 from the province through the Provincial-Municipal Highway Partnership program.
As a result, council also voted to reallocate $200,000 from the project to put toward the design phase for another roundabout.
It will be located at the intersection of Loch Lomond Road and the Route 111 Arterial near the Saint John Airport.
