Fredericton drivers must prepare for intersection overhaul

Road construction season is still months away, but Fredericton is already urging drivers to avoid the city's busiest intersection as it and the province get ready to begin a massive infrastructure overhaul.

Fredericton and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will begin a three-prong upgrade to the area around the Regent Street and Prospect Street on July 1.

• Fredericton intersection closure will cause 'pain' for drivers

The city says about 47,000 vehicles pass through the intersection each day, so it's warning drivers to start planning a new route now.

Jon Lewis, a city traffic engineer, said the entire area will become an active construction zone.

Only a single lane will be open in both directions during this time, dropping the busy intersection down from four lanes to two.

"Drivers will be able to get through the intersection,but certainly should expect to experience delays," Lewis said.

The city will be working to make the intersection at Regent and Prospect streets more efficient.

Dual left-turn lanes will be added for northbound vehicles turning onto Prospect Streets as well as those turning off of the Vanier Highway.

New islands will also be added to right turn lanes which will require drivers to slow down making it safer for pedestrians.

"It's also a major renewal project," said Lewis.

Regent Street north of Prospect Street will be re-paved all the way to Priestman Street.

That part of the project will also upgrade water and sewers in the section while adding widened sidewalks.

The cost to the city, he said, is expected to be in the range of $3 million.

Meanwhile, the provincial government will be tackling the Route 8 underpass south of Prospect. Josh Fox, an engineer with the Department of Transportation, said the bridge will be taken down and replaced.

That will ultimately reduce traffic on Route 8 below to a single lane in each direction.

Fox said the new bridge will be widened and raised about two-and-a-half feet, which should eliminate vehicles underneath from hitting it. A problem DTI has dealt with in the past.

"Should give us enough clearance that we'll never see anything like that happen there again," he said.

While traffic won't be able to travel over that stretch, a temporary pedestrian bridge will be erected before the closure.

Sarah Bustard, a transportation department spokesperson, said the cost of erecting the temporary bridge is approximately $300,000. The overall overpass project is expected to cost $4.8 million.

Bustard also said the tender to repave Regent Street from the underpass to Wayne Squibb Boulevard has not gone out yet.

Commuters concerned by delays

Already drivers who use the road daily are beginning to worry about the upcoming delays.

Marnie Belknap works in the area and said she is concerned about the added travel time.

"It's going to be 20 minutes earlier in the morning," she said about her plans to avoid being late.

Jody White said he's already thinking about taking a back route to avoid the intersection altogether.

As much as White said he dreads the traffic, he's encouraged to see work being done to solve traffic-choked streets.

"I know that the City of Fredericton has grown quite a bit over the last decade or so," he said, noting the city hasn't been able to keep up with the amount of vehicles now on the road.

Both the city and the province acknowledge tackling three projects at once will create commuter headaches.

But the plan is to get them all out of the way at once, rather than spread out the aggravation over more than one season.

Fox said there is an accelerated construction schedule which makes him confident work will be complete by Aug. 31.