Whatever your opinion of the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS), they’re here for now and steady progress has been made locally on the Christchurch Southern Motorway project. The new section of motorway west of Curletts Rd will be open to motor traffic in a few weeks, but walkers and bike riders will get a golden opportunity to have a look at it first!
This Saturday 17th Nov, from 10am to 1pm, the NZ Transport Agency and the motorway project team are inviting people to come and walk/bike part of the new motorway. Come along to the Project Office (corner of Awatea and Wigram Roads) to access the route; if you’re driving there car parking will be available nearby off Carrs Rd. And if you’re biking there, you can take advantage of some of the new pathways now constructed alongside the motorway:
Staff will be on hand at the Project Office if you want to learn more about the project. And if you’re feeling peckish, Halswell School and Rotary will be fundraising on the day by selling food and drink.
You’ll be able to cycle on the actual motorway between Dunbars/Awatea Rd and Curletts Rd; that’s just over 2km each way. Hopefully you’ll be able to get on/off not just at the Project Office end; it would seem a bit silly to ride all the way to there, just to ride back towards town, then back out…
Event Information: 0800 276 4636
By the way: if you’re wanting to thank NZTA for all the nice cycling pathways that have come along with this motorway, don’t bother – it’s actually the City Council who has had to stump up all the money for these. Christchurch only got its southern motorway by CCC agreeing to pay for all the pedestrian and cycling infrastructure (over $5 million). Gee, how come NZTA pays for it all, pathways and everything, when building motorways in Auckland?
This might explain why the City Council decided to go for the simplest and least expensive option when deciding recently to OK the Carrs Rd pedestrian/cycle overbridge (still $3.3 million); NZTA might not help to pay for it. Hmm, and yet it’s NZTA’s motorway that is the reason for the severance in the first place…
Still, enough grumbling for now. Perhaps we will see you out test-riding the motorway on Saturday?
Can anyone tell me if there is any intention by NZTA to continue the dedicated bike path all of the way to Rolleston. It would seem strange to get to a point where bikes and cars are back sharing the same space again particluarly at open road speeds. Rolleston is a rapidly growing town and having a dedicated bike path all of the way there would/could encourage more cycle commuting due to the safety aspects
It’s a good question David, and it seems to be only partly addressed in the plans so far – see http://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/southernmotorway2-application/index.html. They are proposing to extend the path to connect with the Chch-Little River pathway – great if you’re going to Prebbleton or Lincoln. But to Rolleston they are relying on use of the parallel (?) quieter roads, including Main South Road, which will have less traffic and wider shoulders after the motorway is done. Sounds like something worth having some more discussions with NZTA…