Guest contributor Stephen Judd muses on a recent bike ride to the airport:
Last weekend I had an overnight trip to Auckland booked. So I thought I could ride my bike for once and save myself two days’ parking or a return Uber fare. A change of clothes and a few other items fit neatly into a pannier that could become carry-on luggage. I was feeling smug as I contemplated how easy it would all be.
My flight was at 9 am. Google Maps and OpenStreetMap agreed it would take about 45 minutes from my place. I guessed that allowing for check-in time and a little extra, leaving soon after 7:30 would do it, and there wouldn’t be much traffic on a Saturday morning. In the end it took around 40 minutes. I probably pushed a bit more than usual with the anxiety of a novel trip.
The good news is I was correct that there would be very little traffic. The bad news is that this was just as well. I had already ruled out Russley Road as too hazardous for me with its 80km/h speed limit. What I hadn’t realised is that Memorial Avenue is hostile for bikes. Most of it has no cycle lane marked. It’s lined with parked cars. And the last blocks are double-laned and 60km/h. While the Road Code might encourage 1.5 m passing distance when motorists pass someone on a bike, none of the cars I encountered did so. I would hate to think what I might encounter at peak traffic on a week day.
It is possible for me to evade some of Memorial Avenue by taking Ilam Rd with its mostly protected route, or perhaps taking another 10 minutes trundling through Waimairi Road, Athol Terrace and Avonhead Road, but those last few hundred metres of Memorial Avenue are unavoidable. Given the near absence of pedestrians one might be forgiven for taking the footpath… Once past the intersection with Russley Road, a painted cycle lane appears. But it disappears before the roundabout leading to the airport.
At this point I knew to head for the parking building, where there is a pretty good bike rack tucked away just before the pickup/dropoff zone. If you were unfamiliar, I don’t know how you would find it since there is absolutely no signage. The easiest way to access it is to take the right hand lane going into the carpark building, skirt the barrier arm, and take a right at the last bank of car park bays where the EV chargers are. Then you can use the kerb cuts on to the footpath at the pickup/dropoff area before heading left around the corner to the bike racks. If you have an e-bike there are a couple of sockets reserved for e-bike charging. The racks are nice and solid, sheltered, and visible from several angles, so I felt OK about chaining my bike up overnight.
I didn’t use it, but there’s a work stand with tools and a pump outside the main terminal. It’s probably intended for those who are reassembling or packing down a bike taken on a plane, but good to know if you limped into the airport with a flat tyre.
The return leg, around 8 pm on a Sunday, was blessedly untroubled by motor traffic for the most part. But again I was buzzed by drivers on Memorial Ave from Russley until I could turn off somewhere safer. And the exit from the airport was a bit stressful. The short term car park exit is in a lane merging on your left, so there is the risk of a fast moving car on either side of you.
While the majority of the round trip was pleasant and safe, and the facilities at the airport itself are quite good, I can’t recommend the kilometre or so around the airport to anyone but confident riders. It would be much worse in normal weekday traffic too. I am a regular transport cyclist but can’t say I fancy it for my next business trip. It’s not clear to me how all the bad bits would be remedied without the usual outcry about taking away parking spaces, but some signs and paint could go some way to improving it. In the meanwhile I don’t see myself doing it again except for another weekend getaway.
What’s your experience of riding to or from Christchurch Airport?
When I saw the title of this Post I assummed it was ironic as I used to do the Memorial Ave run to work on the Airport Campus for many years. The mornings weren’t too bad (early starts), but going home with traffic anxious to get home too, and cars parked alongside the road to avoid parking charges made it feel like a game of Russian Roulette nearly every day always at the mercy of a car door opening or a momentarily inattentive driver. Oh and the common Easterly headwinds didn’t help either! When I moved from town to Strowan I was able to turn off from Kendall Ave but even those few kms from Airport to the safety of residential streets were hairy!
For some years I used to ride from Kendal Ave towards town on Memorial Ave and Fendalton Rd. Although four lanes and mostly lacking bike infrastructure i never found it too bad. At that time we lived in St Albans and Harewood Rd was my preferred route to the airport.
Its certainly motivational ! The other option is to ride to Harewood Road and take the Undertaker then Orchard Road, OR Avonhead Road, left onto Russley and take the Syd Bradley underpass.
Downside, both are quite indirect. Memorial Ave dates from the days when the Car was King in road design, and frankly the whole thing looks 60’s and quite dated. But lets imagine the wailing if the CCC suggested taking another couple metres from each property for a real cycle lane.
Honestly? If you’re not happy on this road – feel free to take the footpath. Yes I am aware its not technically legal, but in this case is a lot safer than the road.
A little bit of vision applied at the time of the Cobham Intermediate School would have kept the through access between Ilam Road and Sunnyvale lane. Ilam Road west to Roydvale Ave is a good route parallel to Memorial Ave, and from there a north side shared path to Russley Road could easily be built.
To me, both the Community Board, Council and Ministry of Education really dropped the ball here. It has been one of the saddest mistakes made in the project to make Christchurch a better city for cycling which, although still a work in progress been very successful.
Thanks for posting. Memorial Ave provides ample free parking, but does not offer safe passage for cyclists. It would be good to see some parking removed to make the road more accessible for cyclists.
Totally agree about the lack of cycle way ( or even a pedestrian walkway) from Sunningvale through to Ilam Road caused by the rebuilding of Cobham Intermeduate . I’m still mad about it. It’s such a hindrance for so many students going to Burnside HS too, many of them now have to cycle on the treacherous Memorial Ave. can anything be done? If their new fence was placed 4 metres away from the riverbank, there may have been room for a path out to the road.
I support the feelings of nervousness biking to the airport along Memorial Avenue. I have tended to use the South Express cycleway through to SH1 then along to the airport, even though it is 80km/h at least there is a wide shoulder… Or ride on the Memorial Avenue footpath. Given the acres of green paint around the SH1 Russley Road interchange, the lack of anything on Memorial Avenue is very noticeable! Seems like an obvious connection missing, any ‘avenues’ we can explore to push for some improvements?
I used to do a monthly ride to the airport to spend a workday in Wellington. Early mornings on Memorial Ave were manageable, but coming home late on Friday evening was often hairy. On one occasion a driver tailed me all the way down Memorial Ave, before pulling up at every intersection to berate me for occupying one of the three available lanes on an otherwise empty road.
It’s never been clear to me why Memorial Ave needs that many lanes, nor why it couldn’t be upgraded with a separated cycleway.
I was intending to ride my ebike to the Airport from Mairehau. I often cycle out to Hornby via University and around Riccarton Racecourse. However, reading the comments here has put me off cycling out to the airport. Think I’ll bus.