Fredericton working to help hotels near Regent overpass

The City of Fredericton's traffic engineer says he has been working with the provinceto help direct customers toward businesses near the Regent Street construction project.

"Certainly it was very important for us to get up the signages as quickly as we could so people knew how to find those businesses," said Jon Lewis.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure says it worked with thecity to installsigns for the two hotels located either side of the Regent Street overpass;The City Motel and The Fredericton Inn.

With the removal of the bridge, both hotels are now effectively located in cul-de-sacs, and are flanked by traffic pylonsand constructionequipment.

The Fredericton Inn's manager, John Waite, told CBC Newsit's too early to tell if business will be badly affected by the construction.

He saidhe wouldknow better by the end of the month when vacation season kicks-off.

Traffic shift

Jon Lewis saidthere has been a definite shift in traffic patterns to alternate routes.

He saidthe traffic lights at Smythe and Prospect have been changed to allow north-south traffic on Smythe more green-light time.

Nonetheless, the traffic can still be seen backing up from the Prospect intersection into the roundabout.

"The signal timings, we're constantly looking at those to try and make sure they're operating as efficiently as possible," said Lewis.

He saiddrivers should note that making a small change to a traffic signal can have knock-on effects on other parts of the traffic network.

Taxi patience

Checker Cab co-owner George Youssef saidthe traffic delays have increased journey times for his drivers.

Fredericton taxis fares work on a zone system rather than meters.

"We'll take the loss. We're not going to charge it on to the customer," said Youssef.

He saidcall response times are a bigger issue for his business.

"The effect is that people are waiting a littleextra than they normally wait," said Youssef.

"We usually give them 10 minutes to ask for a cab, and it's usually at the door, but with the traffic as it is, it may be 15 to 20."

He is asking customers to call 30 minutes ahead to make sure they get a cab on time.

The Regent Street overpassconstruction project is scheduled to continue until August 31.