Two more streets, hundreds of new parking spaces, thousands of more residents.

It’s the future envisioned in Moncton’s new downtown development plan presented to city council this week.

The Downtown Core Community Improvement Plan imagines a denser urban centre.

The broad goal: boost population by fostering redevelopment of surface parking lots.

Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold said the city expects the new downtown events centre and a redesigned Downing Street will spur development.

“I ask you to walk down Downing Street and then look west,” Arnold said. “You can really see it. You can really visualize what’s possible here.”

The plan will be a guide for city staff and developers over the next two to three decades.

Developed by Trace Planning and Design, the document examines 119 acres (more than 7½ hectares) in the downtown bounded by Queen, Foundry, and King streets and the Petitcodiac River.

Anne Poirier Basque, executive director of Downtown Moncton Centre-ville Inc., said the plan’s call for about 1,300 more residential units is achievable.

“We need to have more residents in our downtown to support a lot of the services and developments proposed here,” she said.

New streets

The plan calls for two new streets.

The first would run south of Main Street from the CN rail line east to Downing Street, breaking up large city blocks. The second would be added south of the Rogers Call Centre building linking Robinson and Westmorland streets.

The city would need to buy land for the streets.

Jim Scott of Trace said the new streets will add…