Dismay at halt to Brougham St upgrade despite $20m spend

Tuesday, 14 May 2024

The long awaited Brougham St upgrade is indefinitely on hold. Construction on the road, one of Christchurch's busiest, was to start in September. Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the project will only be funded to 'pre-implementation.'

There’s anger and disappointment after the Government slammed the brakes on the long-awaited upgrade to one of Christchurch’s busiest roads.

The Brougham St (SH76) upgrade was due to start within months, but will now receive no further funding and only be readied to “pre-implementation” after the Government announced on Monday that it will not fund the $8.7 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme (NZUP) the project was part of.

The move has outraged city leaders, who say Christchurch has been forgotten.

About 45,000 vehicles use Brougham St each day, including 4500 freight vehicles and trucks. It is also a key connection - and pinch point - for Christchurch’s Southern Motorway.

Brougham St is one of the busiest in the city, seeing an average of 45,000 vehicles each day.

The $90m project included a bridge, lanes for carpooling, buses and motorcycles, intersection improvements, and a shared pedestrian-cycle path.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) confirmed $20m was needed to get the project to “pre implementation” stage, including site investigations, consenting and property acquisitions.

Several properties had already been acquired and at least one demolished to make room for the planned over-bridge.

A 'skeleton concept' for the proposed overbridge on Brougham St as part of a $90m upgrade, which was due to start in September 2024. Property acquisitions and even some demolition had already taken place, but the project is now on hold.

In answers to parliamentary questions from as recently as February, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said detailed designs would be finished by the end of March, with ongoing consenting and property purchases under way.

NZTA had confirmed construction would start in September.

But on Monday, Brown announced a new category - roads of regional significance - would “sit alongside” roads of national significance, replacing the NZUP.

Information released by the Government on the roading projects that will continue to receive funding, and those that will cease to be funded.

“Difficult decisions” were made to keep costs within the existing funding, relegating two projects - Brougham St and State Highway 22 Drury - to be funded only as far as “pre-implementation”, with further Crown funding available only if was money left over from other projects, Brown said.

Some projects currently in construction would go ahead, including SH75 Halswell Rd improvements and proposed Rolleston upgrades.

Labour MP Megan Woods said it was “nothing short of a slap in the face” to the community.

Brougham St crash history from the Barrington overbridge to Opawa Rd intersection, from 2013 to 2023. Of the 470 crashes in this period, three were fatalities and 34 were serious injury crashes.

“It’s not a luxury to ask for a safe crossing to get primary-aged children across a major state highway with trucks barrelling down it.”

Woods called on Brown to admit the project was being scrapped.

In its pre-election ‘Transport for the Future’ policy, the National Party listed the upgrade as a “continued project”.

Now it seemed Christchurch was “completely forgotten”, Heathcote ward councillor Sara Templeton said.

“It’s clear the Government is prioritising major state highways in the North Island over transport enhancements in the South Island.”

Pedestrian safety was the key aspect of the project, especially for Addington Primary Te Kura Taumatua, which had lobbied for improved safety for years, she said.

“It’s an area that’s really dangerous - there’s a fully designed pedestrian and cycle bridge that would make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists and mean cars wouldn’t have to stop for pedestrian lights all the time.”

Addington School parent Neil Rathore is concerned the Brougham St upgrade has been put on hold indefinitely, saying something needs to be done about the crossing students use.

Spreydon city councillor Melanie Coker was “extremely disappointed” with the decision.

“It appears making Brougham St better for freight, balanced with safer travel choices for the people of Addington isn’t important to the current government.”

NZTA confirmed the project had been shelved in light of “funding constraints”, but said it would continue with design and consenting so the project could be “delivery-ready” in the future, “subject to affordability”.

Upgrades to Brougham St have been put on hold indefinitely following the Government’s announcement it will receive no new funding.

Addington School principal Donna Bilas said she was “hugely disappointed” by the wasted effort that had gone into consultation, but the bigger problem was students still faced the same dangers crossing the road.

The issue would only worsen with increased housing density and a growing roll, Bilas said.

Parent Michelle Baird was frustrated at the time the community had invested in working groups and consultation.

The crossing was frightening, and she felt unable to let her children walk to school on their own, she said.

Fellow Addington Primary parent Neil Rathore said cars often sped through the crossing children used.

Cycling advocacy group Spokes Canterbury chairperson Don Babe said the news was disappointing, and not just for cyclists.

The Government was focused on Auckland-centric policies at the expense of the South Island, he said.

Labour’s transport spokesperson, Tangi Utikere, said the move was “distasteful”, short-sighted, and had “pulled the rug out” from under the community.

He saw little possibility of the project being picked later, he said.

“This is a government clearly not supportive of Mainlanders and certainly not Cantabrians.”