Tell Us Your Big Idea!

Idea:

Municipal collection of items such as delicious food waste, paper, and plant material can divert waste from landfill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a source of nutritive compost for local farms and gardens.

Staff Feedback:

Thank you for your feedback and for your care for the environment! Currently, all residential solid waste in Fredericton is managed by the Fredericton Region Solid Waste, part of Regional Service Commission 11. All communities in RSC 11 use this facility, including the City of Fredericton. In 2017, the City of Fredericton engaged consulting firm GHD to conduct a review of our garbage and recycling program. As part of the report, they conducted a comparative analysis of typical curbside composting programs in Canada and the landfill gas utilization plant currently in place at Fredericton Region Solid Waste. They found that the two processes were environmentally equivalent in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The gas plant captures methane from organic waste in the landfill and the energy is converted for use – powering the equivalent of 2,000 homes annually.

GHD did investigate the costs of the City constructing and operating a compost facility and found capital costs would be in the range of $6-15 million with net annual processing and program costs ranging from $575,000 - $1.7 million. This would produce low grade 'compost' usable for fill. Other than the high cost, GHD identified additional barriers to implementing such a program because solid waste is managed at a regional level in New Brunswick and FRSW’s facility and landfill gas plant still have the capacity to operate for a number of years. It also means a composting program would require a new fleet of trucks on the road that emit GHGs. Despite this, the City is considering conducting a more in-depth analysis in the future on the GHG emissions associated with building and running a composting facility to understand if there is a less carbon-intensive way to deal with our waste.

Idea:

There is a real need for walkable areas in our neighbourhood.

Staff Feedback:

Hi, there! This is unfortunately the same stretch of trail we addressed in our answer to your previous question: While we agree that it would be nice for that stretch of trail to be plowed in winter. However, given that it's unpaved past the Town & Country Motel, we are unable to do it.... Plowing an unpaved trail would do a lot of damage to the City's equipment and to the trail itself. The City's Trails and Bikeways Plan can be accessed here: https://www.fredericton.ca/en/trailsbikeways-master-plan

Idea:

The main trail is plowed closer to the city, why not this one?

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your idea! We agree that it would be nice for that stretch of trail to be plowed in winter. However, given that it's unpaved past the Town & Country Motel, we are unable to do it.... Plowing an unpaved trail would do a lot of damage to the City's equipment and to the trail itself. The City's Trails and Bikeways Plan can be accessed here: https://www.fredericton.ca/en/trailsbikeways-master-plan

Idea:

Brisbane, Australia for example.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for this very cool idea - we've shared it with staff!

Many of the ideas you recommend have been identified in various plans developed by the City to improve the public realm and enhance our connection with nature and each other. City staff in planning , recreation , tourism and Parks & Trees are working to implement various projects highlighted in a number of planning documents you may wish to read at your leisure .

For example:

The Saint John River was one of the top assets identified by residents during public consultation for the City Centre Plan. This document highlights an increase in events and programming along the river, particularly in Officers square and the Garrison district.

https://www.fredericton.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/municipal_plan/by-law_no_z-10_-_schedule_a.pdf .

On the north side of the river , The Carlelton Park Plan ; https://www.fredericton.ca/en/city-hall/plans-processes/park-plans#CarletonPark identifies strategies establish a more people focused connection with the river including seating along the shoreline. See pages 20,21. Carelton Park has also seen an increase in events such as movies in the park and fishing tournaments in the Saint John River.

The Killarney Lake Park Plan ; https://www.fredericton.ca/sites/default/files/final_draft_-_killarney_mngmnt_plan.pdf identifies projects that are similar to what you highlight in your wish list and are positive examples of activities that such as sporting events with food trucks, an accessible boat dock and improved play area as examples .

Idea:

The way I envisioned it it would be an app where Frederictons people would be able to favourite their favourite businesses and events and promotions. You can post about your time out or whatever. I noticed there’s a lot to do in Fredericton but Facebook events and posters simply aren’t as effective. And eventually this app would be able to expand to other city’s.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks so much for this intriguing idea. Staff is always looking for ways to shine a spotlight on local businesses and events, and we've shared your thoughts with them.

Idea:

To build the old Carlton Bridge back for a pedestrian bridge only would be so great and cut a lot of traffic on the Westmorland bridge.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your idea! The Bridge Piers actually belong to the Province of New Brunswick. We've had many requests over the years to construct a 2nd dedicated walking bridge at this location using the former piers. A bridge engineering consultant was retained in 2017 and ultimately estimated that the cost to construct a pedestrian bridge here would be in the order of $45 million dollars; similar to the cost of simply building a new dedicated pedestrian bridge. The Bridge Piers are over 100 years old and have not been maintenance for almost 40 years. Given the very high price tag for this type of upgrade, there are no current plans to move this project forward.

An alternative plan that the City will be exploring in the years ahead will be to evaluate the feasibility of widening the sidewalk on the Westmorland Street Bridge (WSB) to better facilitate walkers and cyclists. This would also likely require a significant capital investment. However, we feel it would be a major enhancement to further promote active transportation crossing the River and as you state reduce vehicle traffic on the WSB.

Idea:

When I lived in Calgary in the 90s, I loved the pedestrian+bike overpasses that they had at strategic points over busy streets! There are a few key places in Fredericton where having a pedestrian+bike overpass would encourage more people to leave their car at home (by making walking or biking to their destination more pleasant) and would make it safer for them to do so. For instance, over Prospect street near Regent St and/or possibly over Prospect at the High School, especially if the York bike lane could be extended through the FHS grounds to Prospect. Another location for a beneficial overpass would be over the Fredericton Bypass near Priestman or closer to the top of the UNB+STU campuses.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your feedback. We love those types of crossings when going over highways, too! However, the amount of space that would be needed to build pedestrian / cycling ramps above Prospect, for instance, to reach an elevation of 5m (high enough for large vehicles to cross underneath) is huge and it would take people much longer to cross it than at the at-grade crosswalks. As for Route 8 from the Regent Mall to FHS would lend itself better to an elevated crossing, but the cost would reach into the many millions for an area that (according to our data) is not a very high priority for pedestrians.

Idea:

Groom the Killarney ski trails daily and post somewhere once they are groomed since the investment in grooming equipment has made

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for this! Currently, the City schedules the groomer to run 48 hours per week, which enables us to groom trails 1,2,3,E, and Lakeside trails 6 days per week. Trails 4,5,6,7 are groomed once every 48 hours. Grooming after a snow takes us up to 72 hours complete.

We are looking at piloting an app to provide live updates in 2021.

Idea:

Change out the water fountains along the trails to the ones you can fill up water bottles, as was done in the schools, to minimize contamination.

Staff Feedback:

We agree this is a great idea, and staff is working on a plan to start introducing this change next year. It's more expensive than one might think, so we'll need to phase them in, but we're planning for it.

Idea:

Playhouse Courthouses (Fed. and Prov), with office spaces on floors above City Hall Major swimming pool.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your idea! The New Brunswick Exhibition and the City recently launched the NBEX Grounds development project to craft a Site Development Plan for the exhibition grounds’ redevelopment that is future-focused while remaining respectful of the site’s almost 150-year agricultural legacy. Check out the project right here on Engage Fredericton (https://engagefredericton.ca/nbex) and take the survey to share your vision!