Street Talk: Fast Facts

Our busiest, highest, longest and newest streets revealed – and more.

There are almost 4000 roads that are owned by Christchurch City Council – 3,938 to be exact.

Combined, they stretch for 2,439 kilometres! That’s greater than the distance from Cape Reinga to Bluff (which is a mere 2,058 kilometres.)

Alphabetically speaking, the first street is Abberley Crescent and the last street is Zinnia Way.

As well as the public roads there are a number of private right-of-ways that the public are allowed to use but are not legal roads.

We’ve put together a list of fun facts about our streets, from the widest to the shortest, to the newest, busiest and narrowest. Enjoy!

Widest

The widest single carriageway road in Christchurch is Whitmore Street which is 25m wide. However Linwood Avenue is the widest dual carriageway at 45m. This includes the cycleway and the planted central median.

Narrowest

At the other end of the scale is Wells Back Road off Charlton Road on Banks Peninsula – it’s a petite 2.5m wide!

Busiest

Christchurch’s busiest street for foot traffic is Cashel Mall. It sees an average 8000 – 9000 pedestrians per day. For vehicle traffic Moorhouse Avenue is the busiest, with an average of 55,000 vehicles a day.

Longest

Our longest road is Summit Road which runs from the top of Evans Pass  through to Gebbies Pass - a distance of 28 kilometres.  Part of Summit Road remains closed to vehicles however, due to earthquake damage. If you want to travel the entire length from start to finish you’ll need to bike, walk or run!

Shortest

Alcester Street off Durham Street at the South City Mall entrance clocks in as our shortest legal road at just 35m long.

A small section of Summit Road remains closed to vehicles due to earthquake damage. If you want to travel the entire 28km length you’ll need to bike, walk or run!

Highest

Summit Road Akaroa is our highest street – it reaches 685m above sea level at the Hilltop Tavern, making it a great spot to stop for photos.

Newest

The latest addition to our streetscape is in Wigram. Agathis Crescent takes the title of Christchurch’s newest street.

Street with the longest name

This honour goes to Sir William Pickering Drive which has 19 letters. Sir William was  educated at Canterbury University before moving to the United States where he gained a PhD in physics and became the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena!

Street with the shortest name

Last but not least is beautiful PA Road in Pigeon Bay, Banks Peninsula.

Keep an eye out for the next story in our Street Talk series!