The Carleton Park Plan, completed in March 2017, outlines a strategy for enhancing one of Fredericton’s key recreational spaces. The vision for the park focuses on maintaining a passive, natural setting while enhancing amenities and ensuring sustainability.
Carleton Park is one of Fredericton’s most prized outdoor recreation spaces. Located on the north shore of the Wolastoq (Saint John River), and immediately adjacent to the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge, the 11.96 acre parcel of land functions as a destination for walking, city skyline viewing, fishing, open space play and other passive activities related to ever-present lawn and shoreline environments.
The park is closely linked to the Wolastoq (Saint John River) offering views and access, but also faces challenges from climate change and flooding. The park is part of the Fredericton trails network and an important piece to the City’s active transportation network.
The area has been impacted by erosion and other environmental factors, prompting a need for naturalization and stabilization projects as well.
The Carleton Park Plan proposes the following improvements:
- Relocating the boat slip and adjacent parking to a location that works better for recreational boaters.
- Creating a central plaza with youth play structures, historical interpretation, and social spaces.
- Enhancing the shoreline through naturalization and stabilization efforts.
- Developing new open spaces and trails to improve park connectivity and user experience.
Carleton Park has seen many improvements over the years including trail connections and upgrades, the addition of the Boss Gibson monument and gateway adjacent to the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge, and extensive landscaping improvements that tie in with the Picaroons Traditional Ales redevelopment at the east end of the Park.
This year, parking will be formalized in the upper (northwest) portion of the park, which will include the addition of a turning loop with access to the park’s trail network.