15 Jun 2023

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The next month will see a stretch of Main Road closed to traffic five nights a week while Christchurch City Council completes the final stage of work on Te Ara Ihutai Christchurch Coastal Pathway.

The pathway, which will stretch 6.5 kilometres from the Ferrymead Bridge to Scarborough Beach in Sumner, is almost complete, with the last sections in Moncks Bay now under construction.

However, the narrow width of the road means the section of Main Road between the pump station and Shag Rock will have to be fully closed from 12.30am to 5.30am, Monday to Friday, from Monday 19 June to Friday 14 July.

“Fulton Hogan is hard at work now creating the cantilevered path – unfortunately, due to the size of the crane required to install the precast panels, we need to close this part of Main Road completely to keep people safe,” says, Lynette Ellis, the Council’s Head of Transport and Waste Management.

Each night, the closed section will open for 10 minutes every 30 minutes past the hour, starting from 1.30am. Systems are in place to ensure emergency vehicles are allowed through at short notice. Bus services won’t be affected by the closures.

Although crews will be working on the section from 10pm to 7am, one lane of traffic will be open on Main Road from 10pm–12.30am and 5.30am–7am, with manually controlled lights.

“We advise road users to plan ahead and use the alternative route through Lyttelton where possible,” Ms Ellis says.

“Once again, we thank the community for their patience. We’re trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, by keeping the closure to the small hours of the morning to avoid disrupting road users, but we apologise for any inconvenience.”

The full Christchurch Coastal Pathway is expected to be complete in early 2024, and will allow people to enjoy walking, cycling, scootering or skating safely off-road along the coast.

Te Ara Ihutai Christchurch Coastal Pathway is being developed with support from the Government’s Shovel Ready Project Fund.