Tell Us Your Big Idea!

Idea:

Minimum parking requirements are outdated and waste precious space to densify. Our City still requires new development of homes or businesses to have a certain amount of parking space dedicated per square footage or per resident. Towns and cities, like Edmonton, Lunenburg, Vancouver, and many US cities have successfully stopped this practice to improve human-scale density, infilling, boosting affordable housing, and increasing pedestrian traffic. It's a win-win for businesses and residents, plus it increases the City's tax revenues. I invite you to check this great video from Strong Towns about it! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUhOFUQDLQk

Staff Feedback:

Thank you for submitting your big idea! We are glad to see a growing interest in new urbanism practices from our residents, such as eliminating mandatory parking requirements. As we continue to grow and re-evaluate our standards year-over-year, how we deal with vehicle parking is always in the conversation.

Currently, we’re pleased to note that in our Central Business District, there are many uses that do not have a mandatory minimum parking requirement. Furthermore, one of the new amendments we approved to allow what we call ‘Workforce Housing’ in our commercial areas has set a minimum parking requirement of 0.25 stalls/unit and a maximum of 1 stall/unit.

While we recognize these standards do not go as far as the parking requirement changes seen in some municipalities such as Edmonton, we are making continued progress to shift towards a less vehicle-centric culture, supporting alternative transportation modes and thereby reduce the demand for parking. It is important that we are considering the burden that would be placed upon on-street parking infrastructure if we haven’t provided adequate off-street infrastructure in new developments. We do plan to lower our minimum requirements gradually over time and your voice in this matter is valued. We encourage you to advocate for the Fredericton you wish to see when these matters - and others like it - come forward at City Council.

Thank you for your suggestions! City staff are currently working on making the downtown more cyclist friendly with a downtown bike track project. This project is in the early stages of planning and design, and we will be looking for public feedback over the summer on the concept and design. Keep an eye out as we would love to hear your thoughts!

As for pedestrian only streets, the city does employ this during the Thursday night markets and during harvest. They are great experiences and are a vibrant addition to the downtown. We will continue to look for opportunities with local businesses to provide programming in the downtown.

Idea:

By extending the walkway across the St. John River using the old abutments already there the city can relieve crowding for walkers on the train bridge. It’s gotten dangerous during spring, summer, and fall with people on bicycles, scooters and skateboards zipping past at high speed.

Staff Feedback:

The Bridge piers belong to the Province of New Brunswick as they remain from the former Carleton Street Bridge. 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 maintained 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 as part of the current Transportation Study is be to evaluate the feasibility of widening the sidewalk on the Westmorland Street Bridge to better facilitate walkers and cyclists. This would also likely require a significant capital investment; however, staff feels it would be a major enhancement to further promote active transportation crossing the River.

Idea:

Many people would leave their car at home and walk.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your Big Idea! The Bridge Piers belong to the Province of New Brunswick as they remain from the former Carleton Street Bridge. 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 maintained 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 as part of the current Transportation Study is be to evaluate the feasibility of widening the sidewalk on the Westmorland Street Bridge to better facilitate walkers and cyclists. This would also likely require a significant capital investment; however, staff feels it would be a major enhancement to further promote active transportation crossing the River.

Idea:

Well, you asked for a big idea. Atlantic Canada has a lot of cyclists but no indoor velodrome. A velodrome would promote cycling, open up the sport to thousands of Atlantic Canadians, and boost the profile of the city and region in a positive way. Being able to host competitions would be a boost to the economy as well as to many existing bike shops. The facility would run year round and create many jobs. It aligns with modern green initiatives to increase access to bike lanes.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your Big Idea! We've shared it with the team at Recreation & Leisure. If you haven't yet, please check out the Recreation & Survey Master Plan survey HERE. The plan will assist the City in guiding and managing the direction of recreation and leisure services, program, events, facilities, parks, open spaces, and other recreation amenities.

Idea:

Devon Middle is now on the provincial list for a new school to be built not too far from the current one. Not sure if the city or province owns the current land but the city should seize any opportunity to obtain or use this land for community use (once the new school is built). It already has a field but other possibilities are endless if the building is taken down. Pickle ball, community gardens, recreation space, northside splash pad, multi-use health centre, coffee shop and indoor play space. . . maybe create a survey to ask the community what they want/need in that space because great ideas are out there.

Staff Feedback:
Thanks for sharing your Big Idea! We actually do have a survey running right now on this very topic: The City is working on a Recreation & Leisure Master Plan and you can take the survey that will help guide their efforts HERE! The survey will close on February 26.

Idea:

An indoor space for kids to play and learn. A museum with pretend play areas for families to enjoy and explore.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your Big Idea! We've shared it with staff in the Recreation & Leisure Dept. If you haven't already, please take the Rec & Leisure Master Plan survey HERE. It closes February 26th!

Idea:

After falls on the sidewalk, it would be nice to have a safer dog walk.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your comments. We've shared them with staff.

Idea:

I would love to see more space for local talent to practice their skills with free public events; like a small stage in Odell Park! Could be a lovely permanent place for the Calethumpians.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your Big Idea! We've shared it with staff at Recreation and Leisure.

Idea:

Adding any sort of traffic calming measures on Westmorland. Traffic often does not stop for pedestrians or drives far over the speed limit. There are few marked crosswalks for pedestrians on Westmorland close to Dundonald, which makes crossing perilous, especially for children.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your Big Idea! We've shared it with the City's Traffic Engineer.