‘We ask residents to be patient’: Roadwork season well underway in Saint John

Roadwork season has started in Saint John, N.B.

If you live in Saint John, it might be good practice to leave for your destination a few minutes early in the months ahead as roadwork season is in full swing.

Lane reductions, street closures, and detours are prevalent throughout the Port City. The full list of summer roadwork projects was presented to council in late April.

“We ask residents to be patient,” says Michael Baker, the chief engineer and director of engineering for the City of Saint John.

“There is a lot of work going on and we do understand this inconvenience, but we are asking where possible for you to be able to take an alternate route.”

The biggest of the summer construction projects is well underway on the city’s east side. Work to realign Ashburn Lake Road and Retail Drive along Rothesay Avenue is expected to continue until the end of October.Lanes have been reduced due to construction and has led to some lengthy commuting delays for residents like Deb Vautour.

“Half an hour I sat in front of Leon’s on Rothesay Avenue,” recalls Vautour. “And then I moved a little further down, inch, inch, by inch.”

Lanes were also reduced starting this week on Main Street between Union Street and Lansdowne Avenue. The work to “pedestrianize” the street will also lead to some ramp closures.

Among the most difficult areas to navigate through the summer months will be the city’s uptown, specifically around Rainbow Park where entire streets are being reconstructed in preparation for a new K-to-8 school set to open in 2027. Parts of Charlotte Street and Broad Street are currently closed to all traffic.

Both projects are expected to last well into August.

Later this summer the city is aiming to break ground on what would be a first for the city, a roundabout at Sandy Point Road and Foster Thurston Drive.

“We are actually just tidying up the last of the design right now, so it actually hasn’t gone to tender,” says Baker, adding his team is planning to go to tender as soon as possible. “It will start in maybe July and end in October.”

Ongoing developments to locations like the top of King Street where a new apartment is being built, and on Douglas Street where work on the New Brunswick Museum is picking up will also lead to potential traffic disruptions throughout the year.

A full list of the roadwork projects being done in Saint John for 2025 can be found here.

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