Pedway work begins in Saint John, N.B., temporarily closing connection

Pedestrians in uptown Saint John, N.B., who enjoy taking advantage of the city’s pedway system will be forced to find an alternative route for the next few months.

From now until the end of October, part of the Saint Patrick Street pedway connecting Market Square to Brunswick Square will be closed for redevelopment. The bulk of the work includes the removal of a pair of escalators by Rocky’s Sports Bar in place of new wide stairs, and the addition of a second elevator for improved accessibility access. Other work includes the replacement of the upper lobby and skylight area.

The extent of the closed area is where the escalators are currently located. All businesses in the area will be able to operate without issue over the course of the work.

“This is a significant piece infrastructure for the City of Saint John,” says Samir Yassime, the director of asset management and environmental performance for the city. “The total project costs approximately $1.7 million.”

Yassime says the project is years in the making, and could not be delayed any longer due to the state of the escalators. They are original to the building and were first installed in 1983, but in recent years breakdowns have become more prevalent, and finding people to fix them (on top of the cost) has become more difficult due to its age.

For people looking to walk between the buildings over the next few months, they will have to travel outside the pedway system either through the Canada Games Aquatic Centre or City Hall. Both will require pedestrians to access the main street outside.

Yassime understands the next few months may prove to be more difficult for those with accessibility issues, but promises work will be done quickly to restore that easy access.

“We do understand the importance of this link to go from one place to another,” Yassime notes. “We want to fast forward as much as we can in the construction progress in order to have the pedway system ready, faster, and more reliable for people with disability, and in general for the public to use it.”

Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce CEO Tracy Bell says she hasn’t heard any complaints from businesses in either building on how the work may impact them.

She is also happy to see the work being done in the warmer months, when pedestrians won’t mind having to step outside in order to visit their favourite uptown shop or restaurant.

“It’s not preventing consumers from reaching the businesses they need to access,” says Bell. “Making it a little more difficult, perhaps, but infrastructure upgrades are a necessary part of doing business and we understand that.”

Bell says the chamber will keep in touch with those businesses most directly impacted by the work over the course of the project.

“We are proactively reaching out to those businesses to understand what the potential impact could be,” she says. “At this point though, we are just in a wait-and-see pattern.”

The Saint Patrick Street parking lot will also be closed during the course of work for required exterior work in adding another elevator.

Signage has been posted around the area to help direct pedestrian traffic. 

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