Have a say on St Albans, Edgeware and Mairehau road proposals

Residents are being asked for their views on possible roading changes in St Albans, Edgeware and Mairehau.

The changes have been recommended to address the traffic impacts of the new Christchurch Northern Corridor (CNC), which is due to open next year.

Traffic on Cranford Street is expected to increase when the Christchurch Northern Corridor opens.

The CNC will extend the Northern Motorway through to QEII Drive and Cranford Street and will make travel times in and out of Christchurch shorter.

However, it is predicted to lead to more traffic on Cranford Street, south of Innes Road, and on some of the surrounding streets and that is what this consultation is about – how to best manage that increase in traffic.

Early engagement on how to manage the increased traffic volume was carried out with residents last year and based on their feedback, independent traffic engineer Dr Shane Turner put together a three-stage Downstream Effects Management Plan.

The draft plan looks at ways to manage additional traffic and reduce the number of vehicles taking short cuts through side streets (called rat running).

Christchurch City Council is now seeking public feedback on the recommendations in Dr Turner’s plan.

Council staff have organised drop-in sessions where people can find out more about the draft  Downstream Effects Management Plan for:

• Monday 18 March 5pm – 7pm at St Albans School Hall, 17 Sheppard Place
• Wednesday 20 March 10.30am – 12.30pm at Scottish Society Hall, 136 Caledonian Road
• Tuesday 26 March, 3.30pm – 5.30pm at Scottish Society Hall, 136 Caledonian Road
• Wednesday 27 March, 5pm – 7pm, St Albans School Hall, 17 Sheppard Place

Ali Jones, who chairs the Papanui-Innes Community Board, and Sally Buck, who chairs the Linwood-Central-Heathcote Community Board, are urging people who live in St Albans, Edgeware or Mairehau to take the time to familiarise themselves with the plan.

“Let’s be really clear – this is not a tick-box exercise. We want to hear from people living in these areas to see what they think of Dr Turner’s recommendations and tell us their ideas too. While this consultation process focuses on ways to manage  and mitigate the impacts of additional traffic that enters the local road network at Cranford Street, further work is being done on travel demand management as well,” says Ms Jones.

“This is an opportunity for people to express any concerns they might have and to tell us what they like and they don’t like about what is being proposed,” adds Ms Buck.

Residents have until 5pm on Wednesday 10 April to give their feedback. Their submissions will inform a final plan that will be considered first by the Community Boards and then by the Council.

Have your say.

When the plan is formally adopted by the Council, there will be opportunities for further public input on individual projects within the plan before any work gets under way.