Metro customers are encouraged to allow extra time for their journeys this weekend, with major roadworks expected to cause delays in the city centre.

The ‘Super Weekend’ of improvements are being managed by Christchurch City Council and include upgrades to some watermains and wastewater pipes in the city centre as part of a package of works being delivered around One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha.

Manchester Street at the Lichfield Street intersection will be closed from 9pm Friday 18 October to 6am Monday 21 October, causing a detour for most buses heading to the Bus Interchange.

“The majority of these buses will instead travel down Hereford, Colombo and Lichfield Streets in order to reach the Bus Interchange. Route 80 Lincoln/Parklands will travel down St Asaph, Colombo and Tuam Streets instead, and Route 8 Port-to-Port will go via Hereford Street, Durham Street South and Tuam Street,” Public Transport operations manager Derek Walsh said.

“This is expected to cause around six-minutes delay to each bus journey, which will affect the reliability of our services across the network,” he said.

Bus stop #53163 on Hereford Street, between Manchester and Colombo Streets, will be affected by the closure. Customers can board or disembark at the Bus Interchange instead. Signage will be in place at this bus stop.

Customers are asked to allow extra time for their journeys this weekend.

“We encourage our customers to leave extra time to get to their destinations, while our buses travel the detour routes to the Bus Interchange,” Derek said.

“We want to thank our customers for their understanding,” he added.

Updates on timings will be available to view on Christchurch City Council’s Facebook page.

All detours can be viewed here.

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