More speed cushions coming to Saint John after council vote on traffic-calming

Saint John will see 12 more speed cushions on city streets in the coming year after a growing number of calls from the public for measures to slow down traffic.  

The city used to get about 20 traffic-calming requests a year, said Tim O'Reilly, the director of public works and transportation. But since 2020, the yearly number has tripled.

"I call them requests, but oftentimes these are actually pleas from our members of our community because they're impassioned at a real concern for the safety of those who are contacting us or their loved ones," O'Reilly said.

In a presentation to council Monday night, city staff successfully pushed for more money for traffic-calming, the term for measures that encourage drivers to adopt safer driving practices, including reduced speeds.

Community requests, O'Reilly said, have come from individual residents, neighbourhood groups and school administrators and have targeted streets all over the city, from major arterials to neighbourhood streets. 

Counil agreed to spend $450,000 to bring more speed cushions — short, wide raised sections of roads similar to speed bumps — to some roads in 2025.

Mayor Donna Reardon will also tell the province in a letter that at least half the revenue collected from Motor Vehicle Act fines issued by municipal police should be provided to the municipality.

Currently, the province keeps 100 per cent of those revenues, O'Reilly said.

A staff report said speed is a contributing factor in a quarter of fatal car accidents in Canada, and for each 1.6-kilometre-an-hour reduction in average speed, there is a five per cent drop in collisions. 

Streets identified

In 2022, Saint John launched a traffic-calming project that saw speed cushions installed on McNamara Drive in east Saint John. The cushions brought about average speed reductions of nine kilometres per hour. 

The success turned the pilot into an annual program in 2024 and has brought four speed cushions to the city since then on Cedarwood Drive, Douglas Avenue, Spar Cove Road and Dever Road. 

Staff said they have identified more locations for speed cushions next year:

• Champlain Drive  
• Prince Street  
• Wellesley Avenue  
• Boars Head Road  
• Green Head Road  
• Mountain View Drive

Where traffic fine revenue goes

Traffic enforcement in the city primarily falls under the Saint John Police Force. The staff report said council has asked the force to increase traffic enforcement over the years, but the force must operate under approved budgets. 

The city wants traffic violation fines used to fund speeding enforcement. O'Reilly pointed to Edmonton as an "inspiring" example.

"Alberta allows municipalities in that province to keep approximately 50 per cent of the revenues collected from traffic fines, including from image capture enforcement," he said.  

"Edmonton uses those resources to not only fund the equipment and operational costs needed for this technology, but also funds other aspects of road safety including traffic0calming measures."

Earlier this month, the province passed legislation which would allow municipalities to legally use red-light cameras as traffic enforcement tools. Saint John was one of several municipalities at the time that said it had no plans to adopt the technology, a stance O'Reilly reiterated. 

"The Province of New Brunswick implemented an important step at the beginning of this month, allowing municipalities within their province the choice to implement this image-capturing enforcement," he said.

But with 100 per cent of fine revenue going to the province, O'Reilly said, "there's no current funding model to allow New Brunswick municipalities to fund image-capturing equipment, nor the other aspects of road safety."

Some councillors critical

Coun. Greg Norton said that installing red light cameras could free up some police resources to cover more ground to enforce traffic regulations. He also expressed skepticism the province would agree to sharing revenue from traffic fines.

"I'm not confident we're going to get any more revenue back," O'Reilly said.

"The province will come back and say,  'We're the ones that are paying for the court time, we're the ones paying for the judges, we're the ones that are paying for the prosecution. You do it.'"

Coun. Paula Radwan expressed concerns that speed cushions on some streets would just add traffic to other streets. 

Deputy Mayor John Mackenzie supported the proposal but questioned the recommended revenue percentage.

"I mean, why aren't we asking for 100 per cent?" Mackenzie said.

"Fifty per cent is just based on emulating what they do in Edmonton, but it is the floor, not the ceiling at that 50 per cent level," O'Reilly said. 

In his report, he said speed reduction is what the city is focused on with the recommendation for speed cushions, but they are one of many possible approaches, including clearly defined sidewalks and bike lanes.