Saint John considers potential locations for its first modern-day roundabout

As municipalities around the province continue to install roundabouts, Saint John has remained an odd holdout. 

Although it has considered installing roundabouts at a number of locations in recent decades, the city's roundabout total remains zero, explained Tim O'Reilly, the city's director of parks and transportation.

"We haven't had great success installing modern roundabouts in Saint John," O'Reilly said during a presentation to council Monday night.

"In fact, we don't have any. We have only considered their use in limited circumstances — typically when an intersection was due for reconstruction." 

He said all of those contemplated projects "fell through for one reason or another." 

That lack of progress, he told council, has led to "inadvertent anti-roundabout sentiment," or the belief in the community that the city is "anti-roundabout."

Saint John could soon get its first roundabout. But where?

3 years ago

Duration 0:45

This footage of busy Simms Corner shows why it's one of the top 5 potential roundabout sites proposed by city staff.

"I can tell you, as staff, we do see the potential," said O'Reilly. 

In explaining the benefits, he said, "a picture could say a thousand words." He showed councillors a diagram illustrating the number of "conflict points" within a traditional intersection compared to a roundabout. 

He said roundabouts also reduce the types of collisions that produce the greatest risk of injuries, such as T-bone collisions.

O'Reilly listed other advantages, including: 

• Reduced speed

• Improved safety for pedestrians

• 71 per cent fewer accidents compared to intersections controlled by stop signs

• 48 per cent fewer accidents compared to intersections controlled by traffic lights

• Reduced fuel consumption

• Better management of streets that don't connect perfectly

• Lower operational and maintenance costs

Certainly no conversation about city intersections would be complete without mention of Simms Corner. The west side intersection near the Irving Pulp & Paper mill is well known for its somehow-it-works approach to traffic flow, with many locals subscribing to the if-it-ain't-broke argument. 

"I think a roundabout would be an improvement, in terms of what's there now," O'Reilly said when asked specifically about Simms Corner.

"I mean, there's obviously multiple conflict points. Obviously, anybody that's used to the west side, and used to Saint John, have got used to how to drive through it." 

Given the complexities of Simms Corner, O'Reilly said it won't likely be the city's first modern-day roundabout. 

Whatever location is selected first, he predicts there will be a period of adjustment as people learn how to navigate a roundabout. 

Saint John hasn't had a roundabout in decades. Haymarket Square, for example, functioned as a roundabout before the Saint John Throughway was built.  

Mayor Donna Reardon, for one, is a big fan of roundabouts. She said they're "fantastic because they keep the traffic moving and everybody likes to be moving all the time. Nobody likes to be standing still."

From concerned to content in Moncton

When the City of Moncton proposed installing a roundabout on Killam Drive, businessman Rick Cook was apprehensive. The location was adjacent to the Home Hardware his family has operated since 1974. In fact, the store lost part of its parking lot to the project. 

"We definitely had concerns, not knowing how it would affect the property with traffic flow," said Cook. 

He was also concerned about customers being able to access the store, so he followed the city's process very closely and listened to officials tout the benefits of roundabouts. 

"All in all, I would say it works well for us," Cook said. 

Construction was difficult and there were a lot of blaring horns in the early days as drivers got used to roundabout protocols — some even managing to go in the opposite direction to normal traffic flow, said Cook. 

"I don't see any down sides now that we've made it through," he said, adding that traffic definitely flows better through the intersection. 

A long time coming 

O'Reilly said most of the assessments of potential sites are more than 10 years old. 

In fact, Simms Corner was specifically rejected by the city for a roundabout in 2007. Since then, however, there have been significant improvements in roundabout designs, making a fresh look make sense, said O'Reilly. 

Intersections that were previously considered for roundabouts were:

• Simms Corner

• Grandview Avenue/Bayside Drive

• Rothesay Avenue/Ashburn Lake Road

• Somerset Street/Churchill Avenue

After a recent study, the city has revised its list of potential sites to these five: 

• Ashburn Road/Rothesay Road

• Manawagonish Road/Gault Road

• Simms Corner

• Sandy Point Road/Foster Thurston Drive

• Millidge Avenue/Somerset Street

Councillors voted on Monday night to receive and file O'Reilly's report. The report will return to council at a later date for adoption. 

When it returns, O'Reilly said, his department will provide councillors with preliminary costs for each of the proposed sites. 

As part of its look into roundabouts, the city consulted with the CNIB and got a thumbs down to roundabouts . The group's official position is that roundabouts "present significant safety challenges for blind and partially sighted pedestrians."

"When an intersection is changed to a roundabout, the ability for blind and partially sighted pedestrians to travel safely and independently is taken away," according to the position statement presented to council. 

The CNIB prefers "controlled intersections; traffic lights or stop signs because they are able to use the sound of traffic at these types of intersections to determine when it is safe to cross the street."

Blind and partially sighted pedestrians are not able to use the sound of traffic at roundabouts to determine when it's safe to cross.