'It was absolutely mad': escalating failures in Saint John pedway
With four sets of escalators experiencing some sort of malfunction in Saint John's pedway, mobility has seen better days.
On Tuesday, the city said the pair it operates in front of Rocky's Sports Bar could take up to three weeks to fix.
The update came to the dismay of some who had been putting up with the bottlenecks caused in the pedway since last week.
While efforts have been underway to fix those escalators since last week, they could not have failed at a worse time.
With a mass of people heading to Market Square for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit Tuesday, many people were turned off by the long wait times at the only way down on the route — a small elevator.
"It was absolutely mad" said Peter Ferguson, who owns Pete's Pub a stone's throw away from the escalators.
"I witnessed people, seniors, older people actually turning around and giving up and not being able to access Market Square."
Seniors, pedestrians with mobility issues need escalators
Ferguson said the condition of the aging escalators in the pedway system has been getting worse each year. He suspects the on-going issue will cost the area business if they aren't replaced.
"It's another reason for the consumer not to shop uptown" he said, pointing out their continued failure also affects crowds going to Harbour Station.
The number of senior citizens and pedestrians with mobility issues also concerns Ferguson.
Many of them chose to live in condos and apartments nearby because of the access to the pedway.
"They're having a difficult time actually getting home at the end of the day" he said.
Rocky's Sports Bar is right in front of the motionless escalators and co-owner Moe Arsenault knows how long the line-up for the escalator can be.
"At certain times it can be anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes a wait" he said.
Arsenault said he too has concerns about his patrons with disabilities, who may be turned off by the lack of access.
"One of the benefits for us as a business is that the mobility of being able to get in and out of here in a safe environment," said Arsenault. "And right now it's created some congestion and hasn't allowed an easy access."
City hears many complaints about escalators
Mayor Don Darling said he has heard his share of complaints about the city-run escalators and elsewhere.
Darling said he's instructed staff to create a report on the situation, which he said will be made public.
"What's going on now, isn't acceptable to me" said Darling, who is looking to the future.
"The bigger picture question for me is 'What are we going to do to keep them running?'" said Darling,
"What are we going to do about 30-year-old escalators?"
The Hardman Group Limited operates another two sets of broken escalators in Market Square.
One of which hasn't been in service since a child was involved in an accident on it last August. Repeated calls to the company seeking information on its escalators have gone unanswered.
A statement from Otis Elevator said the company "will continue to work closely with the building owner and the city" to return the remaining escalators to service as soon as possible.
