‘Overkill’ stadium traffic rules push neighbouring businesses to breaking point

Wednesday, 27 May 2026

Bombay Bazaar owner Umesh Lathia says confusing road signage and stadium event-day barriers have driven his regular customers elsewhere.

Businesses caught up in road closure zones during events at Christchurch’s One NZ Stadium say the traffic management plan is “grossly excessive”, costs them thousands of dollars in lost sales and has left them questioning whether they can survive.

Since the stadium officially opened on April 24 for the Super Rugby Round, there have been six major weekend event days needing a traffic management plan (TMP).

Roads immediately around the stadium – parts of Cashel, Lichfield, Tuam, High, Worcester, Barbadoes and Madras streets – close to traffic an hour before gates open, and reopen “as soon as reasonably safe” afterwards.

The stadium’s opening month has seen five sold-out events and nearly 200,000 people through the gates, with nearby bars and restaurants celebrating record weekends.

But for Tuam St Indian grocer Bombay Bazaar, the impact has been detrimental. Open until 8pm seven days a week, Friday and Saturday afternoons are usually its busiest period, with 300 to 400 transactions. Now, on event days, it averages about 22.

“I’ve had to let go two staff members as we just couldn’t justify keeping them on with the lack of transactions and number of bills,” said owner Umesh Lathia.

Cecile Steinbrecher outside Mediterranean Foods on Tuam St, where the business lost 20% of its April sales following the introduction of extensive stadium road closures.

While the traffic plan allows managed access for shoppers via event cordons, Lathia said it’s “confusing” for drivers. Overall, their sales have been down about 30-40% – and not just on event days.

“People get confused by the signage and road closures. So when they can’t figure out alternative routes, they go elsewhere,” he said. “It’s the toughest time we’ve had since we opened [eight years ago].”

Lathia is now considering closing, saying it is no longer sustainable.

Next door, Mediterranean Foods owner Andrew Brady said the “overkill” closures cost his grocery and eatery 20% of its April sales during Super Round weekend and similar for other events, making them “seriously consider whether Christchurch is a viable place for [their] business to remain”.

Venues Ōtautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare says public safety will not be compromised, but officials are listening to neighbours to monitor and review traffic plans.

Open until 8.30pm on Fridays, the major events clash with their busiest trading window each week. While he supports the stadium’s boost to the CBD, he said the road closures were “grossly excessive”.

“We were never going to be the making of the stadium – people aren’t going to do their grocery shopping before a rugby game – but we never envisioned our existing customers would be blocked from reaching us.”

Brady said the “disruptive” $34 million surrounding streets upgrades should have eliminated the need for extensive closures.

“People arrive over [several] hours, then they all leave together – that’s when you need traffic management.”

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger acknowledged that traffic management teams may have “overcooked” the scale of the initial central city road closures.

Venues Ōtautahi originally wanted to rely on the street upgrades and keep roads open, but a police security assessment forced it to change its traffic management plan in March.

Chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare said they were continuously working with the city council, police and listening to neighbours to monitor and review the traffic plan.

“Our priority is to ensure safe access to and from the venue for all guests while minimising any negative impacts on commercial and residential neighbours.”

Harvie-Teare said it takes multiple events to understand the patterns, but said the Super Rugby Round’s traffic plan was unique, as most major events do not require such plans across multiple days.

Mayor Phil Mauger suggested last week the council was considering cutting back the restrictions, “because [they are saying] ‘oh, we’ve overcooked it here, we don’t need that much’. This is the first cab off the rank. [VO] will learn from this.”

In response, Harvie-Teare said ultimately the council signed off on the traffic plan. And while they believe the current plan is best positioned for the volume of people coming through, they do expect changes in the future.

“We share in a desire to minimise the impacts of the traffic management plan but will not compromise on public safety.”

The next major event is on Friday, when the Crusaders play the Hurricanes.