Charlotte Street Reimagination Project (Union Street to Broad Street)

The City of Saint John is working to reimagine Charlotte Street from Union Street to Broad Street to improve safety and access for all users of the transportation infrastructure. We want to hear from you as part of this process and hope that you will take a few minutes to review the preliminary conceptual design and complete a short survey.

Council priorities, MoveSJ and the Central Peninsula Secondary Plan all point to a more balanced transportation system that will be realized with this project. Charlotte Street has been specifically identified as a key transportation corridor connecting the Uptown and South End areas of the central peninsula and one that should improve access for all users of the transportation infrastructure.

The proposed project involves the following elements:

• Bike lanes: The installation of a dedicated bike lane on the west side of the street.
• On-Street Parking: On-Street parking will be permitted on the east side of the street only. Existing metered and time limited parking spaces on the west side of the street between King Square South and Queen Square North will be removed. The current alternate side on-street parking between Queen Square North and Broad Street will be replaced with on-street parking on the east side of the street only. There will no longer be a need to switch which side of the street vehicles are parked twice a month.
• Direction of Traffic Flow: The direction of traffic flow will be changed between Duke Street and St. James Street by removing the two-way traffic flow and only allowing traffic to flow one-way in a southerly direction. Traffic will now flow in southerly direction only from Union Street to St. James Street. Two-way traffic will be maintained between St. James Street and Broad Street to support the development and operation of the new school.
• Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements: Other proposed enhancements include addition of curb extensions, raised crosswalks, Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) at identified crosswalks and Tactile Warning Surface Indicators (TWSI) at various locations.

The reimagining of Charlotte Street will not be without its difficulties. One of the largest impacts to be seen will be the amount of on-street parking that will be available. As a result of the proposed changes, there will be a net reduction of approximately 25 on-street parking spaces on Charlotte Street. There will be approximately 18 metered spaces removed between Union Street and Duke Street and approximately seven spaces removed between Duke Street and Broad Street. The reduction in on-street parking reinforces the City’s goal of being a modern, progressive community that supports growth by shifting the focus to other, more active forms of transportation.

The reconstruction work required to complete the transformation will be staged over the next number of years and will be combined with other planned work to maximize the use of available resources. The conceptual design provided as part of this consultation is preliminary at this stage and represents the high-level goals of the project. As each section of Charlotte Street is worked on, more detailed analysis will be undertaken to identify each specific enhancement that will be included in the final design.