For quite some time, the Christchurch City Council has mooted a cycle route from the central city out to the east as part of its Major Cycle Routes programme. One of the original proposals was to generally follow the route of the Avon Ōtākaro River corridor; however that option has now been picked up by the City to Sea cycleway, which is making good progress so far.
So an alternative, more direct route has been considered instead, making use of some of the east Christchurch roads. Last week, the proposed route was presented to two Community Boards that straddle the route.
The chosen route was the result of quite a bit of investigation into different potential options from the central city, through Linwood and Aranui, to New Brighton. A Multi-Criteria Assessment (MCA) considered several different factors related to route directness, comfort & safety, time/cost risks, and local community impacts.
In the end, the decision was made to continue along Worcester St from the Rapanui-Shag Rock cycleway, and then wind along Woodham Rd and Pages Rd before reaching Seaview Rd in New Brighton. The route will be a mixture of neighbourhood greenway (interestingly somewhat mirroring a proposal I first suggested for east Christchurch back in 2012…), bi-directional separated cycleways, and shared pathways.
One of the encouraging things being proposed (and likely inspired by the presentation a few months ago from Spokes Canterbury) is the potential use of temporary, lower-cost infrastructure (like plastic bollards, paint and road markings) to allow for the cycleways to be developed quicker.
The next step is to take this proposal to a full City Council meeting for confirmation, followed by public consultation on the proposed route design. I’m looking forward to seeing what the planned cycleway looks like!
What do you think of this cycleway proposal to New Brighton?