Proposed bus stop dangerous: former school trustee

A former school board trustee is raising concerns about the location being considered as a new Metrobus transfer point in St. John's to replace the one the company is being forced to leave at the Village Mall. 

The mall has told the transit authority to get off its parking lot in the city's west end in August.

George Joyce says the provincial government is talking with the Eastern School District and Metrobus about using the parking lot at the old School for the Deaf, across from the mall.

He said asking passengers to cross Topsail Road is a dangerous. "It's a four-lane highway and we should not expect seniors to cross a four-lane highway on Topsail road to get a bus," said Joyce.

He said the location is also inappropriate because it's the planned site for the new west end high school.

Joyce has left the board to run as a Liberal candidate in the provincial election next fall.

The Village Mall  told the St. John's Transportation Commission to relocate the bus stops for safety and business reasons.

Metrobus general manager Judy Powell said in late March she was told mall retailers experienced an increase in sales and "a reduction in the number of security-related incidents" during the three-month transportation strike that began last November

Powell said Metrobus has until Aug. 22 to find a new transfer station in the same area.