Transport options  |  6 Mar 2023

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As one section of Te Ara Ihutai Christchurch Coastal Pathway is completed, work is beginning on another, with Main Road temporarily narrowing to one lane.

Fulton Hogan is currently hard at work on the final section of Pathway passing through Moncks Bay. Once finished, it will cover 6.5 kilometres and provide access to the coastline between Ferrymead and Scarborough Beach in Sumner. It connects communities along its route, and protects and enhances the wildlife along the way.

“Work is going really well, and barring the occasional spell of bad weather or appearance of white-flippered penguins on the work site during nesting season, Fulton Hogan is making good time on this final stretch,” says Christchurch City Council Head of Transport Lynette Ellis.

“The latest section of the shared path should be fully surfaced by the end of the week, and we expect to be able to open it to bikes, scooters, pedestrians and everything in between by Friday 10 March.”

“However, there’s still more to do. From Monday 20 March, we have to narrow a stretch of Main Road west of Shag Rock, for approximately four months. This is because the space we have to work with in this area is so narrow,” Ms Ellis says.

Main Road will go down to one lane during work hours, 9am–7pm, Monday–Friday, and widen to two lanes outside those hours. Fulton Hogan will manage the traffic with manually controlled lights. The job will require some early morning concrete pours from 4am–7am, with two lanes reinstated for peak morning traffic

“We want to thank road users for their patience once again – we know it’s an inconvenience, but the finished Coastal Pathway will be well worth it. The finished sections you can already see are testament to that, and the number of cyclists and pedestrians making the most of them is growing all the time,” Ms Ellis says.

The Pathway is a joint project between Christchurch City Council and the Christchurch Coastal Pathway Group. People who want to talk to someone about the project in person are welcome to attend Fulton Hogan’s drop-in sessions, held every Tuesday morning from 10am–11am at the Christchurch Yacht Club.

The first 3.5 kilometres of the pathway between the Ferrymead Bridge and Beachville Road in Redcliffs, and a section between Shag Rock and the Sumner Surf Lifesaving Club are complete.

Construction on the final section of the pathway is expected to be complete in early 2024.