Summer may be coming to an end, but many students are wondering when the same may be said about the overpass construction on Fredericton’s Regent Street as they adjust their routes to class and work.
For students like second-year Emma Morrison, getting to her job at the mall from St. Thomas University campus used to be quick, and getting there from home was about a 15-minute drive. Now, with the closure of the overpass, she has had to rework her schedule.
“Some days the construction would stop traffic for 10 minutes, and even though I would leave [an hour] early it was still taking a lot longer to get places.”
Morrison said it’s important for her to arrive on time to work and the construction became a nuisance.
“I have a lot of panic and stress towards being on time,” said Morrison, “But I have never been late or gotten in trouble because of the stress I put myself through.”
Third-year student Tegan Frazee also works in the mall and used to rely on buses to transport herself to and from work. The temporary changes to the transit system have made it more difficult for her to get to her job, and like Morrison, she has to leave earlier.
“Because there are no buses directly to the mall right now, I generally have to leave half an hour earlier than expected to get there on time,” said Frazee.
Despite planning ahead, Frazee said she’s had problems with her commute. It affected her old job on Prospect Street as well.
“I had to find an alternate route to work, which added about 10 minutes to my daily commute making me late two or three times.”
Students are also finding the construction raises a number of safety issues.
“Driving has become less predictable,” said Morrison.
The lack of predictability was also an issue for Frazee. She said she felt unsafe due to the unclear and constant changing of directions for pedestrians forced to walk within the construction zones.
“One day they would be working on one side of the street, and then the next they would be working on the other side, but still have the machinery in the way of walking,” said Frazee. “They were even working on both sides of the street early in the morning.”
Frazee hopes workers make it easier for people to understand the detours, especially pedestrian, on future projects.
Jon Lewis, traffic engineer with the city of Fredericton, said staff will be inspecting the area to make sure pedestrians can walk safely through the construction area in an interview Monday morning.
“There’s a connection being made over the sidewalk to the temporary pedestrian area,” Lewis said. “We’re going to have have a look at that this afternoon to see if there was anything we can do to make that better. In the past we’ve had separate pavement markings but now I believe those may be gone now that we’re finishing the tie-in work to the structures.”
He said a possible solution would be placing pylons and ribbons that could guide pedestrians.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s spokesperson, Sarah Bustard, told CBC last Thursday the overpass work would continue for at least another 12 days, depending on the weather.
In and email correspondence Bustard said safety is the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s number one priority.
“A temporary pedestrian walkway was built to allow pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross Route 8,” Bustard said. “The department apologizes for the inconvenience and thanks the travelling public for their patience. Detour maps are available on the department’s website to help motorists find a detour route.”
With files from Hadeel Ibrahim
