Friday 3 October 2014

Comments sought on Central City transport projects

Residents, property owners, organisations and businesspeople have only five days left to provide feedback on three Central City transport projects needed to support key Anchor Projects.

The three transport projects are:
Colombo Street – from Hereford Street to St Asaph Street.
Lichfield Street – from Durham Street to Manchester Street.
Tuam Street – from Durham Street to Barbadoes Street (including some associated changes to Manchester Street between Lichfield and St Asaph streets).

The deadline for the public to make a response is 5pm on Wednesday 8 October 2014.

All three transport projects incorporate new ways of sharing the travel network for cars, buses, bicycles and pedestrians, and are designed to meet the changing and competing demand over the next 30 years. The new travel network for the Central City, contained in An Accessible City, the transport chapter of the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan, aims to avoid congestion as more people travel into and around the Central City. It does this by providing a plan for improved travel routes and transport choices, and suggests how we can make the best use of public spaces.

Christchurch City Council Transport and Research Unit Manager Richard Osborne says, “Quite a few of the comments are about the proposed improved cycle facilities.

“People are generally supportive of pedestrian-friendly and cycle-friendly spaces. Comments include the possibility of cycle lanes having enough room for ease of passing – making them easier and safer for cyclists travelling at different speeds. Others thought clearly marked cycle lanes were important for cyclist and pedestrian safety.

“Parking is also something people are interested in. The proposed designs seek to minimise the loss of on-street parking as much as possible. However, room needs to be made for the new separated cycle facilities, general traffic, buses, pedestrians and changes in intersection lane configurations to accommodate the change to one-way direction,” he says.

Feedback on these three transport projects can be made a number of ways:

• Through the Council’s website: www.ccc.govt.nz/haveyoursay
• By email: AACtransportprojects@ccc.govt.nz
(Please make sure your full name and address is included with your submission)
• In writing to:

Freepost 178 (no stamp required)
AAC Transport Projects
Capital Investigations
Christchurch City Council
PO Box 73011
Christchurch 8154

Further information about these three transport projects and the consultation process is available online at www.ccc.govt.nz/haveyoursay and www.ccc.govt.nz/AACtransportprojects
Background
These are the second set of early transport projects to deliver An Accessible City. This is the transport chapter which is an addendum to the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan developed under the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011.

People initially shared their ideas and viewpoints about transport through the Council’s 2011 ‘Share an Idea’ campaign and more feedback came when CERA consulted on the Draft Transport Chapter of the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan (which became An Accessible City) in 2012 and 2013.

CERA and the Council have developed this feedback into transport projects that focus on changes to traffic flow in the Central City. These transport projects focus on improving traffic flow to anchor projects and focus on physical changes to the roading network associated with the opening of the new Bus Interchange in April 2015.

General information about the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan and An Accessible City can be found at www.ccdu.govt.nz/the-plan

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