PlanMoncton - Urban Growth Strategy

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Urban Growth Strategy Launched

The City of Moncton is currently the largest and fastest-growing municipality in New Brunswick. The City developed its first Urban Growth Strategy to help manage where and how residential and employment growth should occur in Moncton over the next 25 years. The data and information gathered to create this document will become the foundation for Moncton’s upcoming Municipal Plan Review.

The City retained professional consultants Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. (in conjunction with The Planning Partnership and SCS Consulting Group) to lead the project. Based on a comprehensive community engagement program and various technical information, the consultants developed various city-wide and local growth scenarios.

This project is critical to the future planning of our city, as it highlights:

  • How citizens wish to see the city grow over the next 25 years
  • The fiscal implications of various growth scenarios (meaning the impact on the City’s budget and, by extension, on property taxes)
  • The short- and long-term benefits and risks associated with various growth scenarios.

The recommended city-wide and local growth scenarios will serve as our guiding compass to help shape future development that is both environmentally and fiscally sustainable.

The final Urban Growth Strategy was released on Feb. 26, 2024.

Urban Growth Strategy Executive Summary

Urban Growth Strategy Launched

The City of Moncton is currently the largest and fastest-growing municipality in New Brunswick. The City developed its first Urban Growth Strategy to help manage where and how residential and employment growth should occur in Moncton over the next 25 years. The data and information gathered to create this document will become the foundation for Moncton’s upcoming Municipal Plan Review.

The City retained professional consultants Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. (in conjunction with The Planning Partnership and SCS Consulting Group) to lead the project. Based on a comprehensive community engagement program and various technical information, the consultants developed various city-wide and local growth scenarios.

This project is critical to the future planning of our city, as it highlights:

  • How citizens wish to see the city grow over the next 25 years
  • The fiscal implications of various growth scenarios (meaning the impact on the City’s budget and, by extension, on property taxes)
  • The short- and long-term benefits and risks associated with various growth scenarios.

The recommended city-wide and local growth scenarios will serve as our guiding compass to help shape future development that is both environmentally and fiscally sustainable.

The final Urban Growth Strategy was released on Feb. 26, 2024.

Urban Growth Strategy Executive Summary

Question or comment?

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  • Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this link

    My question and comment is arising because a specific change made to the newly paved section of Vaughan Harvey Blvd, ( between Main Street and St. George. I would like to know the reason why the bike lane was removed! Being an avid and constant downtown bike commuter, I was highly disappointed to see yet another street now more dangerous for me to use. I realize we have a great riverfront bike trail, but it’s important for our downtown to include bike lanes for bike commuters to get from point A to point B in a safe and practical manner! Many of the newcomers in our growing city don’t own cars and it’s important for any city to encourage people to see cycling as a viable and safe mode of transportation, especially in the current climate crisis cities around the world are experiencing. Rather than removing bike lanes our city needs to be forward thinking and work on improving this important infrastructure!

    Moncton Man asked 8 months ago

    We think there should be more bike lanes too! The bike lane on Vaughan Harvey will be added back in once the resurfacing project is complete – and the new bike lane will be physically separated from the driving lanes with concrete barriers and flexible bike lane delineators, one of the recommendations in phase two of the Active Transportation Plan.

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    Has Moncton considered adopting a local bike share program and/or e-scooter rental program like so many cities this size have already adopted elsewhere? This would be ideal for places like Moncton, that has so many areas currently underserved by public transit.

    RJM asked 9 months ago

    Good afternoon, 

    Thank you for your question. 

    Programs of this nature are becoming increasingly popular. As part of the City's Active Transportation Plan and other initiatives, bike share and e-scooter rental programs may be part of that conversation.

    Kind regards,
    Josh

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    It's a little challenging to have frequent bus service because of the lengthy transit interval waiting times. What fresh adjustments are going to be made?

    Dimple asked 9 months ago

    Good afternoon, 

    As part of our ongoing consultation, the Planning department continues its discussion with Codiac Transpo on how the Urban Growth Strategy will impact upon current and anticipated transit requirements. 

    Any questions pertaining to current scheduling should be made to Codiac Transpo directly at https://www.codiactranspo.ca/moncton-transport/contact-us

    Kind regards,
    Josh

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    What can be done to speed up implementation of the Moncton Active Transportation plan (https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/plans/Active_Transportation_Plan_Phase2.pdf)? Given our climate crisis and how unsafe biking on our roads can be, why is Moncton not moving more quickly to implement safe separated bicycle tracks to connect different areas of the city? I understand Moncton is proceeding with 2-3 projects this summer, which is great, but the current 2035 time horizon for achieving the plan is just too slow. What is holding us back from a quicker implementation? Is it lack of funds, political will, resistance by neighbourhood groups, etc? I'd like to know what I can do to see high quality bike infrastructure built sooner in this city.

    Kevin C. asked 9 months ago

    Hi Kevin,

    Thank you for your questions. 

    Here are the challenges and constraints we are currently facing, which some we see as opportunities:

    1) Staffing: Presently, the City does not have a position dedicated to active transportation. City Council approved the budget to create a new position in AT. The recruitment process for the Active Transportation Coordinator is currently underway. This person will be responsible for the implementation of the AT plan, public engagement, seeking funding opportunities, etc. 

    2) Budget: City Council approved a $1M budget towards AT for 2023. We are hopeful that there will be opportunities to increase this budget in the future, such as through federal funding programs. 

    3) Inflation: Construction costs have increased exponentially in the past four years. This inflation affects all materials/products used in AT infrastructure (signage, curb, asphalt, bollards, etc.).

    4) Coordination with other projects: Other types of infrastructure require renewal in the City (water pipes, sewer pipes, roads, sidewalks, etc.) and the City manages annual renewal programs for these assets. It is important to coordinate AT upgrades with these existing programs. This dynamic could impact the timing/sequencing of certain AT upgrades

    Kind regards,
    Michelle 

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    Will the Urban Growth Strategy incorporate some protective measures for this city's large stock of affordable, entry level housing that is found predominantly within the Wheeler Boulevard circle? Developers will never, ever build entry level housing like this again as it is not as profitable for them as the current trend of larger houses. This smaller housing stock is much less expensive than any new 'missing-middle' housing that is being built currently. Having such a large stock of starter housing like this seriously makes it easier to attract young and immigrant families to employment and education opportunities here.

    MichaelS asked 9 months ago

    Hi Michael,

    Thank you for your question. 

    A key question of the Urban Growth Strategy is to plan for new and existing neighbourhoods to ensure we have a balanced approach in terms of housing typology and tenure to accommodate our expected population increases.

    A big challenge moving forward will be how to maintain affordable options in existing neighbourhoods as older housing stock reach the end of their lifecycle and are renewed.  Best practice research indicates the importance of maintaining flexible zoning in existing neighbourhoods to allow property owners the option of adding a gentle amount of additional units, for example, accessory dwelling units, which helps to both increase the housing stock in desirable neighbourhoods and provide affordable options for those who need it.

    Kind regards,
    Michelle 

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    Please make sure to leave lots of green space and a plan for better public transit.

    Judi P asked 9 months ago

    Hi there, 

    Thank you for your feedback. We'll make sure to include this in the survey report. 

    Kind regards,
    Michelle 

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    When will the city implement hard plastic receptacles for garbage, recycles and organic waste like every other city in Canada as opposed to using plastic bags? While the world works to eliminate plastic, Moncton insists people buy plastic bags to put their refuse in. The excess amount of plastic going to landfills is shocking. Can this be changed?

    Deb85 asked 9 months ago

    Thank you for the question! Solid waste collection in Moncton is managed by Southeast Eco360, the regional waste management commission. Eco360 chooses how waste is separated and collected. If you check out the FAQ section of Eco360’s website, they have posted a more detailed answer to this question: https://www.eco360.ca/faqs 

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    Has Moncton considered a "housing first" strategy ( http://surl.li/ioift ) to deal with the homelessness in the downtown? Considering the city is surveying about the Urban Growth Strategy this may be a good time to allocate a certain amount of the new housing downtown or wherever it is built as free accommodations to the homeless. Kill two birds with one stone hopefully.

    Leo asked 9 months ago

    Housing is a provincial responsibility, but the City works very closely with the provincial government and is always advocating for better housing solutions. The government’s Housing for All strategy that was just announced is an important step towards addressing the many housing challenges we are facing.

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    What are you going to do about controlling the homeless population? They are keeping people out of the downtown core.

    Richard asked 9 months ago

    Hello Richard, 

    Thank you for your message. 

    The City continues to work closely with the Province of New Brunswick, Codiac RCMP, and frontline agencies to address the social issues we have been seeing over the past several years. An update on actions taken so far was posted in March on the Public and Downtown Security page: https://letschatmoncton.ca/public-downtown-security.

    Kind regards,
    Michelle 

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    What will the city do to implement the use of personal electric vehicles such as E-Bikes/Electric Unicycles/E-Scooters and Electric Skateboards? Would love to see more permanent bikelande struction on Main Street that can take me as far as the airport.

    Tymithy Dawson asked 9 months ago

    Hello Tymithy – thank you for your question.  

    The newly-adopted Community Energy and Emissions Plan does in fact call for (among other actions) “supporting the development of e-bike share systems.” We will be looking into this over the next few years. More broadly, we see a lot of potential for e-micro-mobility devices, properly integrated into the transportation system, to greatly reduce Moncton’s carbon footprint and offer a wider range of mobility choices.

    Regarding the bike lane connection to the airport, we have the Riverfront Trail that connects Moncton to Dieppe. However, bike lanes beyond Moncton are the responsibility of the City of Dieppe. We recommend reaching out to them for further information on extending their bike lane network.

    We are currently working on implementing the second phase of our Active Transportation Plan. This plan outlines the finalized network and program recommendations that have been developed based on public input and engagement.  

    We appreciate your interest in sustainable transportation options, and we are actively working to improve and expand our infrastructure.

    Kind regards,
    Michelle 

Page last updated: 29 Feb 2024, 09:56 AM