$500m of new Christchurch motorways six months away

Sunday, 12 January 2020

Drone footage shows progress on Christchurch's Northern Corridor and stage two of the Southern Motorway. Both motorways are expected to open mid-2020.

Canterbury motorists may have only six months to wait until two major new motorways are in use.

The northern corridor and the southern motorway, worth almost half a billion dollars combined, are due to finish midway through this year.

While neither will be toll highways, the Christchurch City Council is looking at whether fees could be used to reduce congestion on an upgraded Cranford St.

A map showing where Christchurch's Northern Corridor and stage two of the Southern Motorway will run.

Staff are working on reports on whether congestion charges (fees for using the road, usually targeted to peak times) should be brought in, as well as a possible park-and-ride near QEII Drive.

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The new Christchurch Northern Corridor crossing QEII Drive. The beams have since been put onto the bridge.

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Christchurch City councillor Mike Davidson says he never supported the northern corridor project, but the council now has to do its best to make it work.

Council transport planning and delivery manager Lynette Ellis said the reports would be released publicly when they were finished, as soon as possible in the new year.

Councillor Mike Davidson, chair of the council's urban development and transport committee, said it was 'too soon' to say what the report would find, but he was in favour of some form of congestion levy.

'It's more around the legalities of actually doing it. You can't just put in a congestion levy, you've got to make sure you tick a few boxes – it wasn't as straightforward as I'd hoped.

Half of the spans are in place on the Preston Rd bridge.

'I was hoping it was something we could do as it was being built [but] you almost have to do it right from the get-go because it's got to pay for the actual construction of it.

'I still think it would've been the right thing to do, when you actually look at who's going to be the major users of that corridor and the impact they actually put onto the city,' he said.

The roadworks are obvious on Cranford St.

A congestion fee could be installed as a 'disincentive' for using those routes, as the volume of traffic coming into St Albans is expected to increase dramatically when the northern corridor is finished.

'[It could] encourage people to look at alternative forms of transport or a different route … and reduce the numbers of cars coming onto Cranford St.

'There's a lot of things we need to do to fix transport in Christchurch before it's too late, public transport is the biggest thing we need to improve.

Beams being lowered onto the bridge over QEII Drive.

'These new motorways aren't going to be the solution for Christchurch city – they're fine for people out in the Waimakariri and down in Selwyn, but they're not great for people in Christchurch city itself.'

The city council is responsible for the controversial upgrades needed to manage the extra traffic the motorway will bring to Cranford St, south of Innes Rd.

The Christchurch Northern Corridor, right, leaving Cranford St, left.

Ellis said that work would start soon and should be done in time for the motorway opening.

It has been a controversial issue in the local community, which raised concerns about the extra traffic splitting the community in two and making the street less safe for pedestrians, especially children going to St Albans School.

Spans are in place for the bridge over QEII Drive.

Davidson, who was not on the council when the northern corridor was approved, said he never supported the motorway project.

'We [can't] just say don't do it, don't open it, so we've got to look at how do we try get some good outcomes out of this roading project.'

The bridge and separate pedestrian bridge (red) over the Styx River, part of the Christchurch Northern Corridor.

THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR

This new four-lane motorway will run from just south of the Waimakariri River bridge to Cranford St in Christchurch, which will be four-laned through to the Innes Rd intersection.

It is due to open in mid-2020, providing a direct route from the north into the central city – though some sealing work will continue into 2021.

Once expected to cost $240 million, the budget has crept up to $290m. The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) estimates 42,000 vehicles a day will use the new motorway by 2026.

NZTA portfolio manager Colin MacKay said the additional funds were needed so an extra southbound lane and clip-on cycleway could be added to the Waimakariri Bridge, the cycle path could be extended from Empire Rd to Tram Rd, and for extra work and labour for the carpool lanes.

It also includes rebuilding the slumping foundations of a bridge over QEII Drive, which required the abutments (ramps that lead up to a bridge) to be removed so 445 steel piles could be put in to stabilise the soft ground.

Eleven new structures, mostly bridges, had to be built for the motorway. They are all largely finished, with beams placed on the bridge over QEII Drive and one side of the bridge over Prestons Rd in the lead-up to Christmas.

'Several kilometres of the shared use path is ready for asphalt, 656 light poles are in place and we have made excellent progress with landscaping and planting,' MacKay said.

In 2020, much of the work will involve putting asphalt on the new bridges and sections of new road, widening Cranford St, and upgrading the Cranford and Innes roads intersection.

The project has been talked about since the 1960s, with many battles fought over where it should end in the St Albans area.

It was given a push when it was named one of seven 'roads of national significance' by the former National Government, and work began on the corridor in November 2016.

Environment Canterbury, which manages the region's bus service, and the Waimakariri District Council are considering a direct bus service from Rangiora and Kaiapoi to Central Christchurch during peak hours, using the new motorway's carpool lane, though no final decision has been made.

The two agencies will fund three park-and-rides in Rangiora and two in Kaiapoi.

THE SOUTHERN MOTORWAY

Running between Rolleston and Christchurch, the $195m, 14.5-kilometre second stage of the Christchurch Southern Motorway is expected to open in mid-2020. Some final asphalting will be completed after that.

NZTA expects the road will halve the 30-minute drive between central Christchurch and Rolleston and reduce fatal and serious crashes by 40 per cent.

When finished, a four-lane road linking Halswell Junction Rd in Hornby and SH1 near Robinsons Rd in Weedons will form a new stretch of motorway. The existing section of SH1 from Robinsons Rd to Rolleston will be widened to four lanes.

Last year, those building the project opened four of eight bridges (at Waterholes, Weedons, Shands and Halswell Junction roads) with another at Springs Rd to open early this year. The Robinsons Rd overpass structure is complete and the road surface is being built on it.

Most of the road that runs through farmland (between SH1 and Halswell Junction Rd) has already been built.

NZTA senior project manager Geoff Griffith said the team was preparing to swap traffic to the new SH1 lanes between Hoskyns and Robinson roads soon so the existing lanes could be upgraded.

An off-road shared path between Rolleston and Templeton will also open early this year.

The first stage of the Southern Motorway – a four-laned motorway from Halswell Junction Rd to Addington – opened in 2012. It cost $140m.

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