Some Moncton residents living along Mapleton Road are opposing a new development that would see a 120-room hotel, gas bar and drive-through restaurant built in an area that’s already dealing with traffic congestion.
“It’s creating an actual backlog of traffic from the off-ramp into the Trans Canada. So it is creating an unsafe area for the people here on Mapleton and an unsafe situation for the drivers on Highway 2,” said Andy Quinlan who lives across from the land owned by local developer Dr. Nach Daniel.
A spokesperson for the City of Moncton confirms it has received a request from Acadian Construction on behalf of Daniel to rezone 5 parcels of land at 777 Mapleton Rd. from residential to highway commercial. The change in zoning would allow for a Holiday Inn Express, gas bar and drive-though restaurant and two additional full service restaurants to be built on the site.
Quinlan opposed the development because he says travelling in the area is already dangerous “Every single day we walk these roads and we drive these roads and it’s already unsafe.”
Quinlan says the city and the province need to upgrade the intersection and off ramps before there is any further development in the area or someone is going to get hurt. According to a traffic impact study for the proposed development, an additional 5,000 vehicles will pass through the area every day if the project goes ahead.
“I am not going to stand in the way of development if it is done correctly,” said Quinlan, who has 200 signatures on a petition aimed at stopping the development.
Jean-Francois Landry lives in a subdivision not far from the site and said traffic backlogs are a problem at this intersection, but he is less concerned with the planned development.
“Maybe it’s going to be a little much just at that corner but to me it doesn’t matter much,” said Landry.
Residents will get a chance to present their concerns at a special meeting being held at City Hall on July 20. The city will consider any written objections to the proposal.
The city won’t comment further on the matter until after that meeting.
“We don’t want this to happen until our kids are safe here, our dogs are safe here, and everyone who travels this road is as safe as possible,” said Quinlan.
A meeting to consider written objections to the proposed zoning change will be held on Wed., July 20 at 4 p.m. at Moncton City Hall.
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