New Fredericton roundabout construction starts Monday

Fredericton drivers are in for yet another inconvenience travelling back and forth across the St. John River.

Construction on the new Ring Road-Two Nations Crossing roundabout will begin on Monday.

The roundabout will allow people to travel east and west on the north side, connecting Two Nations Crossing to the Ring Road in both directions.

Construction will require the on and off-ramps connected to Two Nations Crossing to be closed, accordingto City of Fredericton project manager Greg McCann.

This will cause an increase in traffic elsewhere.

"There's going to be a significant increase in traffic along St. Mary's Street," McCannsaid.

Summer of construction

Fredericton is working on a number of road construction projects this season, many of them occurring at the same time and affecting traffic going downtown.

With the roundabout, there will now be three projects the Riverside Drive and St. Anne's Point Drive projects are the others slowingtraffic going back and forth across the river.

But Stephen Horsman, whose Fredericton North riding encompasses most of the north side, said he has been knocking on doors all summer in the lead-up to the election campaign, and he hasn't heard any complaints.

"They have no issue with it," Horsmansaid."No one's ever brought that up to me. I've asked for their priorities, and they brought up other issues, and not one person has ever talked about the issues with travelling in the city."

Luckily for people affected by the traffic,McCann said, the work on St. Anne's Point Drive should be completed by the New Brunswick Day long weekend.

The roundabout is scheduled to be completed this fall.

Traffic changes

While a city goalwith the roundabout is to grant better access to a growing north side business community, safety is another concern.

"We've had a lot of accidents at Maple Street and of course at the other end at Brookside Drive," Horsmansaid.

Drivers have to turn left at the intersection of Maple Street before turning left again at St. Mary's Street to get to the same location now.That left-hand turn going south will be phased out.

Horsman said that early on in the planning, an overpass was considered but later abandoned.

"From my understanding, it was three times more expensive, it would cause more noise congestion for the people living on Douglas Avenue and over and also it would take longer," said Horsman