Month: October 2024

By-Election 2024 Ward 3/

Ward 3 Candidates 2024: Provincial Government Relations

Scott Fitzgerald

[To come]

Walter Harding

[To come]

Mark House

The St. John’s Act is overdue for revision. As your councillor, I would advocate for the city to have more control over areas that directly affect our residents, like housing regulations, transit, and environmental policies. Local governance should have the flexibility to meet the unique needs of its people, and I would work to ensure St. John’s is given the powers it needs to thrive while collaborating effectively with the provincial government.

Paul Morgan

● Apparently it has been updated with minor issues. The biggest issue is the overall act is “prescriptive” in that it tells the city the areas it can have jurisdiction over
● Most, if not all, municipalities across the country have “enabling” legislation where the municipality can operate in areas provided they
do not infringe on other levels of government. An example is Municipal Enforcement officers in Mount Pearl are able to patrol their
streets and issue tickets, the St. John’s Act does not explicitly state that we can, so we can’t. The Act needs to be rewritten because it is
so limiting overall.

Greg Noseworthy

[To Come]

By-Election 2024 Ward 3/

Ward 3 Candidates 2024 on Transit

Scott Fitzgerald

Metrobus has been a common election issue in St. John’s since at least 2009. Many, many candidates who have gone on to serve on council have talked about the importance of public transit and there has been little change over that time. That is, until very recently when ridership actually grew for the first time in recent memory. For years the catch-22 with Metrobus has been that we can’t make investments in Metrobus until we see that more people are using it, and we can’t get more people to use it without investing in it and making it a better service. We finally see an increase in ridership and what does council do but divert funds slated to be re-invested in Metrobus and use it in other areas! To make matters worse there has been very little transparency about why this was done and the report recently provided by Metrobus on plans for future growth has not been released to the public.

A robust public transit system is a must in a modern municipality like St. John’s. It is a service that citizens have been calling for improvements to, for a long time. Withholding funding that was earmarked for re-investment into the service is just wrong and it hurts our city in the long term when you consider such things as road maintenance and taking action on climate change.

Walter Harding

Metrobus has been a contentious topic during many municipal elections in the past dating back 20 years. While I am delighted to be able to offer my thoughts on the service, the cost associated with it and the stigma that still lingers about our public transit it seems many people before me and many members of council past and present have not been able to get the service to a proper level of quality for Metrobus users. Having said that, I think we can get there.
The increase in ridership is for many reasons. The high cost of living has led to many people wanting to save money as much as possible and leaving their vehicles parked is one way to achieve that. Many users of Metrobus have turned to the service as cost cutting measures and have mixed feelings on the service with some simple improvements required.
Our many newcomers to St. John’s regularly use Metrobus to commute around the city but complain about unreliable services on the weekends and as many are working multiple jobs and taking classes at the same time and the reduced schedule on weekends leaves them having to pay for much more expensive modes of transportation. We should improve our weekend service to match weekday service.
Our students avail of Metrobus services and the new on-demand system in place has proven to be quite beneficial for them while still raising concerns about our lack of direct routes and timely transport to and from their destinations.
Monies earmarked for the addition of hybrid smaller buses should free up some monies saved by lower consumption of diesel fuel and perhaps saving on maintenance costs and upkeep of the aging Metrobus fleet.
As well, monies available through the federal governments clean air fund should be targeted by city council and every effort should be made to secure the maximum amount possible, unlike our first attempt at securing a portion of the 4 billion dollar housing acceleration fund that was short on significant foresight and called “lacking” by the federal government. When we have opportunities presented to us as a city we must take advantage of the situation and maximize the benefits to our residents.
The development proposal for affordable housing on the parking lot of The Village Mall is an exciting opportunity as long as we take our time and make certain we do our due diligence and get it right.
I see an opportunity on that site to improve the current situation with perhaps a reconfiguration of the current sheltered bus stops to the rear of the mall to free up pedestrians and traffic congestion in the area. Moving the bus stops to the rear of the mall may also provide us the opportunity to integrate a more robust and efficient transportation network and provide a much safer environment for users of our Metrobus service.
Metrobus is headed in the right direction but there are many improvements required to attract and retain new passengers to our Metrobus network.
Covered bus stops, more direct routes, free service for the people who need it most, a gentle move away from fossil fuels and a weekend service that closely resembles our Monday to Friday service are all examples of improvements required to get maximum returns on the investments into our public transportation network.
We can work hard on lobbying , advertising more,  maximizing spending, using best practices to find ways of doing more with less and getting inventive with how we maximize the investment in our Metrobus network. Our riders and our tax payers deserve the best from us so they can enjoy the best service possible.

Mark House

Public transit is a lifeline for so many, especially during tough economic times. As your councillor, I would push for improvements to the Village Mall transit hub. These upgrades should include better shelter, accessibility features, and potentially covered walkways to the mall. Transit is an essential service, and ensuring it meets the needs of our community is key. While there are always budget constraints, I believe we need to prioritize investments that make life more affordable and accessible for all residents. Improving transit isn’t just an expense—it’s an investment in our community’s future, one that pays off in economic growth and environmental benefits.

Paul Morgan

Ridership does appear to be up in St. John’s and the Village Mall is certainly a major Metrobus hub
● With the proposal to build an apartment complex on the rear parking
lot I think this would be a good time to incorporate a bus hub as well – perhaps this initiative could possibly be cost shared between the
builder and the city
● The cost of such projects if deemed necessary to the area residents and ridership would have to be maintained by all parties involved
● Nobody wants more taxes

Greg Noseworthy

[To Come]

By-Election 2024 Ward 3/

Ward 3 Candidates on Traffic and Safety

Scott Fitzgerald

Neighborhood traffic speed is one of the most talked about issues when speaking with residents in Ward 3. The first thing I would like to see is school zones all given their own priority and traffic calmed with the solution that best fits the situation. You can’t put speed bumps on a four-lane road like Topsail Rd, but traffic cameras, for example, would work wonders I’m sure. In short, school zones should be taken out of the traffic calming application process as it currently stands and given their own priority. With 7 schools in Ward 3 (including 5 primary/elementary schools) it’s not hard to see why this is such a major concern. If you gave the school zones the proper levels of traffic calming and reduced speeds in sub-divisions and neighborhood streets to 30k/hr, it would help the speed issue immensely.

Walter Harding

This is my fourth attempt at being honoured with occupying our Ward 3 seat on council. Speeding, irresponsible operators of motor vehicles, excessively loud motorcycles , cars and trucks and pedestrian safety was first brought up by me in 2013.
My 40 year career has included a lot of driving all across this island and while driving habits have eroded all over the island I find it’s worse here in St Johns and surrounding areas. Neighbouring municipalities have been much quicker at making their presence known in their communities and in 2013 I drew attention to the changing landscape when it came to the rapid increase in irresponsible, distracted and inconsiderate operators of motor vehicles in our west end and entire city.
I felt it was time for us as the capital city to implement our own 3 or 4 vehicle municipal traffic enforcement program. While the response was positive and supportive the program did not come to fruition so in 2017 and 2021 I once again suggested we look to address what was now an exponentially worse situation than in 2013. Again, I received support for this idea but as I did not get elected it did not come to pass. Clearly in 2024 this situation has gotten completely out of control.
We have a high percentage of operators of motor driving in an extremely dangerous manner, completely ignoring the rules of the road and driving distracted and with little to no regard for anyone else including pedestrians. It’s utterly ridiculous. Cellular phone use while driving is now an absolute nightmare with, I would estimate, with 70 percent of people driving with a cellular phone in their hands and regularly driving without any clue of where they are on the road and completely unaware of their surroundings. Pedestrians are at greater risk of being struck by a distracted driver more than at any other time in our history and pedestrians must also take precautions and more responsibility for their own personal safety and wellbeing. They as well are far too often distracted while in the middle of a crosswalk with their cellular phones buried in their face and have no idea how dangerous a situation they have placed themselves in. When on a crosswalk they must not be on their phone or having music blaring in their ears. Pay attention to the vehicles around you because most motorists are completely oblivious to your existence. We need to educate new drivers on the importance of never using a cellular phone while driving and lead by example.
We need to install more electronic speed indicators to flash in the drivers face to remind them of their speed and to slow down. We need to increase the fines for being caught driving while distracted with a longer impound period for the vehicle and perhaps even a confiscation of the cellular phone for 90 days. Drive while using your smartphone and lose that smartphone for 3 months. We need to partake in visits to area schools of all levels to encourage our young people to speak up if someone is using a cellular phone while driving them around. They should be encouraged to speak up and say “ could you please put your phone away while I’m under your care as my safety is much more important than your social media likes and comments.”
This would go a long way to help lower the number of people who are not following our rules of the road. We do need speed cameras. Yes. We do require speed bumps in some areas. Yes. We need more enforcement. Yes. We do require cameras at red lights to catch people using their phones while stopped at an intersection. Absolutely. And we need the visual deterrent that is a municipal enforcement officer patrolling our streets. Our vehicles patrolling our streets providing a service and keeping ticket revenue within our city. We can attack this irresponsible behaviour by so many motorists – we can fix it. We simply need a multi pronged approach, more education for our new drivers, a penalty and fine system that is so robust even the thought of someone picking up their phone has them seeing their bank balance drop and we need to make certain our young people aren’t afraid to teach the adults to do the right thing. The other way hasn’t worked with more and more adults acting in such an entitled and irresponsible manner that it has put our children, our pedestrians and other motorists at a level of risk that is unacceptable, inconsiderate and completely avoidable.

Mark House

Traffic concerns are among the most frequent issues I hear about in Ward 3, particularly on streets like Waterford Bridge Road and Craigmillar Avenue. Traffic calming measures should be more readily available, and we need to explore solutions that keep our roads safe without pushing the problem onto neighboring streets. I would advocate for traffic cameras where appropriate and ensure we’re using our traffic calming budget as effectively as possible, consulting with residents to find balanced solutions that improve safety without sacrificing convenience.

Paul Morgan

● A major issue in our city is traffic and the safety issues it presents, residents have certainly stressed this point
● I would like to see reduced speeds on side streets especially in areas with only one sidewalk
● Solar digital speed signs showing speed and when to slow down are very effective in reducing driving speeds
● Elevated crosswalks with flashing lights
● Proper signage and not residents putting up their own signs is a must
● Perhaps putting up more 3 and 4 way stops in residential areas certainly aids in controlling speeds.
● Better enforcement because we can have all the rules and regulations we want but if it’s not enforced then it is a mute point

Greg Noseworthy

[To Come]

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