Let’s call time on the obnoxious overkill of stadium road closures
Tuesday, 2 June 2026
Mike Yardley is a Christchurch-based writer and commentator on current affairs, and a regular opinion contributor.
OPINION: It was only a matter of time before central city businesses baulked at the oppressive effects of One New Zealand Stadium’s traffic management plan. Good on Mediterranean Foods and Bombay Bazaar for biting back.
The blowback was inevitable given the sheer scale and longevity of the ensuing road closures, marring freedom of movement, traffic flows and trading activity across a vast swathe of the central city’s east side.
It’s been a frothy five weeks in Christchurch following the stadium’s opening, swiftly proving its pulling-power as a people attractor and economic driver. Bravo to Venues Ōtautahi. The stadium’s opening chapter has been a runaway success, apart from the traffic management plan which remains needlessly obstructive.
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Back in early April, I warned in this column that the traffic plan was “heavy-handed” and “extreme”. My view hasn’t changed.
Central City Business Association (CCBA) Chair Annabel Turley concurs.
“Many businesses do feel the current scale and duration of the closures appear excessive, for extended periods before and after events.”
Turley acknowledges the importance of upholding public safety and the initial cautious approach. But she rightly points out “the current settings are creating unnecessary disruption to accessibility, customer movement and peak-hour traffic flow through the central city, to the detriment of surrounding businesses”.
The CCBA would “would welcome a review” to assess whether adjustments can be made to improve accessibility while still maintaining public safety, she tells me.
How is it acceptable that cross-city traffic on major arterials like Madras St and Barbadoes St are crippled for not just one, two or three hours - but eight hours, when a stadium event is on? Friday night’s Crusaders game saw the road closures span 4pm to midnight.
Add to that, the shutdowns to side streets, like Cashel, Lichfield, Tuam, High and Worcester streets. It is obnoxious overkill, particularly after ratepayers shelled out $23 million on pedestrianisation upgrades to the stadium’s surrounding streets, including the widest footpaths in Christchurch.
You’ll be aware that Venues Ōtautahi was eager to minimise disruption with a light-touch traffic management design, but the police security assessment stomped all over that.
Christchurch Metro Area Commander Superintendent Lane Todd doubles-down on the closures, telling me “the nature of crowded places means they at times can pose extra risks, as they can be a target for attacks”.
But there is no specific threat or intelligence pertaining to the stadium as a terror target.
Todd says, “it’s not necessary for a specific threat to be present, for these measures to be put in place”.
“Police make no apology for putting people first. We appreciate the road closures are a short-term inconvenience, but safety will always be our top priority.”
Eight hour-long road closures stretch the definitional bounds of “short-term inconvenience”.
Curiously, Todd argues that “road closures tend to increase near the end of an event to try and minimise disruption”. Is he not aware that Madras and Barbadoes (between St Asaph and Hereford streets) shut down three hours before a match kicks-off?
Todd goes further with his road closure posture.
“Such mitigations help protect pedestrians from vehicles, whether a driver is under the influence, suffering a medical event, or intent on committing a criminal act.”
Seriously? If you accept that loose rationale, perhaps we might just have to close all our roads, just in case a passing motorist suffers a medical event or is cooked on meth.
Despite repeated attempts, Todd wouldn’t be drawn on why this strangulating approach to traffic management wasn’t imposed on Apollo Projects Stadium.
Will Venues Ōtautahi seek to roll back the length and extent of the road closures?
Chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare says they “will continue to monitor and reduce [the closures] where possible. We will work with council and police to ensure all are comfortable with any reduction in coverage.”
Meantime, the bigger safety pest confronting stadium patrons are those gormless riders on e-scooters who haphazardly weave their way through the throngs in Te Kaha’s precinct and beyond – despite the supposed geo-fencing restrictions.
It’s time for meaningful action on reining in those gratuitous road closures.
The Crusaders’ responsively reversed course on retiring the horses. The heavy hand of traffic management power-tripping needs a course correction, too.