A raft of roading changes are being recommended for the Cranford Street area ahead of the opening of a new northern motorway extension that will cut travel times in and out of Christchurch.
The Christchurch Northern Corridor extends the Northern Motorway through to QEII Drive and Cranford Street and will make travel times in and out of Christchurch shorter.
However, traffic modelling indicates that traffic volumes are likely to increase on Cranford Street, south of Innes Road, and in some of the surrounding streets when the CNC opens.
As part of the conditions of the designation for the CNC, Christchurch City Council is required to address the downstream traffic effects.
The Council engaged an independent traffic expert, Dr Shane Turner, from Stantec, to recommend appropriate traffic mitigation measures. To assist Dr Turner’s work community feedback was sought on potential options that could help mitigate the impact of the increased traffic volumes.
“Dr Turner has considered the feedback from the community and prepared a draft Downstream Effects Management Plan detailing his recommended approach. We will be presenting his plan to the Papanui-Innes Community Board on Friday,’’ says the Council’s Acting Head of Transport Steffan Thomas.
The draft management plan recommends that a number of projects be undertaken before the CNC opens, including:
“In addition to these projects, the draft management plan also recommends a series of projects that should be undertaken within three years of the CNC opening, as well as some more long-term projects.
“The community will be given an opportunity to provide their feedback on the recommendations in the draft management plan before the Council makes any final decisions about how to proceed,’’ Mr Thomas says. "We will then consult on the individual projects that come out of the plan before any work begins.''