Ask any Saint Johner about Simms Corner and you’ll almost certainly be met with a knowing groan or story about a close call while making a turn.
The intersection on the city’s west side sees a complex mix of thru traffic, stop signs and merges where four different roads meet.
Drivers heading south on Bridge Street continue onto Main Street West without stopping – but have to yield to those coming off Main onto Bridge if they want to take a left onto Lancaster Avenue.
Drivers coming west on Lancaster can freely merge onto Bridge Street – but face a stop sign if they want to continue onto Main.
Then there are drivers coming up the one-way portion of Fairville Boulevard who face a stop sign before continuing in any of the other three directions.
Drivers there and on Lancaster yield to each other when there’s enough of a gap in the flowing traffic for either to make a move.
And that’s when things flow smoothly.
Never mind if there’s a pedestrian crossing, an emergency vehicle coming through or a train crossing Fairville and Main Street West.
“I’ve never seen an intersection like this,” said west side resident Gary Stackhouse.
Stackhouse needs to not only navigate the intersection alone on a daily basis, but with countless inexperienced drivers behind the wheel in his role as a driving instructor.
“In some cases I have to stop on the side of the road and explain it on a whiteboard because it’s not intuitive at all,” he said.
Stackhouse recently took to social media to pose his own idea to clean up the intersection, sketching out an idea to turn Simms Corner into Simms Circle.
His Facebook post has received hundreds of clicks and comments, with a few members of Saint John Common Council chiming in as well.
A similar idea to implement a traffic circle at Simms Corner is already sitting somewhere in city hall, but it’s not going to be easy or particularly affordable to make a reality.
“It’s a sizable intersection and comes with sizable costs as well,” said councillor David Hickey.
Hickey tells Global News the idea is part of Phase 3 of the city’s “MoveSJ” plan.
With phases 1 and 2 now complete, Phase 3 is excepted to be brought before council within weeks.
Hickey says the Simms Corner revamp could be done in 2023.
In his Facebook post, Stackhouse expressed frustration with a recent announcement that Main Street in Saint John’s north end would see some revitalization before this roundabout is put in place.
Hickey says it all comes down to dollars and cents.
“The challenge has been how do we make the cost fit with something that will work with our infrastructure budget,” he says.
There are some who oppose the idea, simply on the basis of a traffic circle being foreign to Saint John.
To them, Stackhouse offers his expertise.
“I’m willing to give lessons to anyone confused by it. I’ll give you a lesson on how to navigate it very easily,” he said.
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