Wednesday 17 August 2014

Consultation opens for three Central City transport projects

Christchurch City Council is inviting feedback on three transport projects needed to support key Anchor Projects in the Central City.

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).

Consultation opens on Wednesday 17 September 2014, and will close at 5pm on Wednesday 8 October 2014.

All three projects are aimed at supporting the new Central City anchor projects, such as the Bus Interchange, which is due to open in 2015. They incorporate new ways of sharing the road space for cars, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians – and are designed to meet the changing and competing demands over the next 30 years.

Transport and Research Unit Manager Richard Osborne says, “The changes include proposals that prioritise safety and pedestrian-friendly environments, such as a new pedestrian crossing with a ‘Barnes Dance’-style crossing phase at the intersection of Colombo and Lichfield streets. This will allow pedestrians to cross the intersection in all directions under signal protection, providing a safe, convenient access to the new Bus Interchange.

“We have carefully considered the sometimes competing needs of users on these important streets in the heart of the new Central City. While there are inevitably some trade-offs given the limited road space, we believe we have come up with some proposed designs that best support the overall transport system for the new Central City – providing people and businesses with much improved travel choices, which will make it easy to move around the city, to do business and to live there,” he says.

Proposed changes for the Colombo Street project include:

• Converting Colombo Street into a pedestrian and cycle-friendly street through the 30 km/h core.
• Providing safe crossings for pedestrians.
• Including separated cycle lanes on both sides of the road between St Asaph Street and Lichfield Street.
• Enabling trams to cross east-west over Colombo Street at High Street and Cashel Mall.
• Streetscape design features along the frontage of the new Bus Interchange to enhance the street’s appearance and accessibility.
• Links with the Tuam Street one-way conversion and the Lichfield Street two-way conversion, both within the 30 km/h speed zone.
• Providing access to the Lichfield Street car parks from Colombo Street.

Proposed changes for the Lichfield Street project include:

• Conversion of Lichfield Street from one-way to two-way from just east of the Cambridge Terrace / Durham Street intersection as far as Manchester Street.
• Lichfield Street operating as the preferred vehicle access route into the proposed retail precinct’s parking buildings and the northern access to the Justice and Emergency Precinct.

• An exclusively pedestrian ‘Barnes Dance’-style pedestrian crossing phase at the intersection of Colombo and Lichfield streets.
• Providing northern access to the Bus Interchange to the east of Colombo Street.
• Giving pedestrians and buses priority between the Bus Interchange access and Manchester Street.
• Becoming part of the proposed Central City 30 km/h slow speed core.

Proposed changes for the Tuam Street project include:

• Converting Tuam Street to one-way west to east between Durham Street and Barbadoes Street (as included in An Accessible City).
• Prioritise bus movement, where possible, towards the Bus Interchange.
• Signalising the entrance of the Bus Interchange to ensure safety for all users, while achieving bus priority on entry and exit.
• Incorporating a separated cycle facility on the north side from Durham Street to the east of High Street for one-way cycle travel eastbound.
• Becoming part of the proposed Central City 30 km/h slow speed core.
• The tram route from Poplar Street will cross Tuam Street to enter High Street then trams will return along High Street.

The proposed changes to Tuam and Lichfield Streets include some associated amendments to Manchester Street between St Asaph Street and Tuam Street. These include:

• Cycle lanes retained on both sides of the street.
• Kerb build-outs outside Sol Square and across the road.
• Lane changes to accommodate buses turning into Lichfield Street and St Asaph Street.

Subsequent separate consultation is planned over further Manchester Street changes north of Lichfield Street.

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

The Council will be holding the following presentation and drop-in sessions for people to speak to Council and CERA staff and make a response:

Further information about these two 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 Central City 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

– ends –

© Scoop Media