First look: Christchurch cycleways underway

Over this summer, there’s a lot of Major Cycleway action happening around Christchurch. Many of the cycleways won’t be completed until March-May, but already there are significant signs of progress – and even completed bits to ride on. Let’s have a look at how some of them are doing (note: these photos were actually taken two weeks ago, so already they are likely to be further progressed):

St Asaph St cycleway: This central city route has now been completed, providing a parallel westbound one-way route to the eastbound Tuam St cycleway. One bit still to open is the connection north to High St (although oddly you can go the other way); leading to a strange forest of yellow posts at present. Apparently the design is still a bit too confusing for some cars who have ended up finding themselves driving in the cycleway…

Papanui Parallel: Most of the action so far is north of Main North Rd where the separated cycleway is nearly completed – not completed enough to stop people parking in it still… There is also some new kerbing work starting along Grassmere and Rutland Sts ahead of the new cycleways going in.

Little River Link: The main piece of completed work is the new pathway along the Brougham St off-ramp between Collins St and Barrington St; this will provide a very handy missing link. North of here, the separated cycleway along Collins St is also getting constructed up to and around Church Square. Preparations are also being made for the signalised crossings at Wrights Rd and Barrington St.

Rapanui/Shag Rock Stage 1: Not as much progress on this project as planned, due to delays around an underground cable. But the pathway in Linwood Park is largely complete (no photos unfortunately), and there is evidence elsewhere of preparation works, e.g. along England St.

Uni-Cycle: The main work undertaken so far is the construction of the separated cycleway along University Drive. Work on widening the Ilam Fields pathway is also starting up. And the cycleway separators along Ilam Rd are also getting a spruce-up…

It’s great to see so many cycleways taking shape around the city. You can keep track of their progress on the City Council website, where further construction photos are being posted.

Have you noticed the new cycleway construction around town?