Flashback Friday – Return to Christchurch: Cycling works underway

When we haven’t been pondering our own cold/wet weather lately, much of the focus this week has been on the incredibly hot weather over in Europe (climate change, anyone?). Seven years ago, I had just returned from three months in Europe and feeling the definite drop in temperatures; however, what I was also noticing was the quite rapid progress on the first vestiges of our new cycleway network. We’re starting to get used to the growing array of great cycleways spanning the city now but, back in Jul 2015 (when this blogpost was first published), it was quite exciting…

I’ve been back in Christchurch for a little over a fortnight, trying (unsuccessfully) to ward off various colds and bugs. There’s still a few more reports to come of my visits around Europe, but I’ve also managed to start looking around Christchurch to see what has been happening while I’ve been away. As reported previously, there really is quite a bit going on…

Some things are still taking shape, such as the Matai St East cycleway where there’s not much to see yet:

…and in town there’s a lot of work all happening at once, including new separated cycleways as part of the Accessible City programme:

Some bits are completed and can be cycled, even if the surrounds are currently a little bit strange:

Work is continuing on at the new Bus Interchange, but already you can experience the new traffic signals where the cycleway crosses the bus entrance. I’ll leave for a separate post what’s happening there when it’s a bit more complete.

Along the other side of the Bus Interchange, you can already experience the new “Copenhagen style” (kerbed) cycleways along Colombo St. At first glance it seems a bit narrow, although as you can see two bikes can squeeze past each other. The drainage grates also look a bit threatening, but the wavy pattern means that you won’t come to grief riding over them.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of Hagley Park, the first Accessible City works have produced a new cycle crossing over Moorhouse Ave:

Travellers to/from the south can now more easily get across to Hagley Park and town with a dedicated crossing:

Work will extend the “Little River Link” Major Cycleway from here via Grove Rd to the Southern Motorway cycleway:

Finally, further out, a new signalised crossing of Waimairi Rd near the University of Canterbury is also about to go live:

Ultimately this will form part of the Uni-Cycle Major Cycleway. However, with a lot of teaching currently temporarily relocated to the Dovedale (College of Education) campus, this route is experiencing some large numbers of pedestrians and cyclists. So it has been fast-tracked for completion now.

As you can see, lots of things on the go around the city; I will keep looking around and post a few more updates of what’s new on the ground, or at least under construction. I’m also always happy to receive similar reports (and photos!) from other correspondents out in the ‘burbs – contact us!

What else have you seen around the city?