Work gears up on Riccarton intersection and cycleway

Work to improve one of the city’s most dangerous intersections – in tandem with building the Nor’West Arc cycleway – starts this month.

The busy intersection of Middleton Road, Riccarton Road and Ilam Road – ranked the seventh most dangerous in Christchurch – will be upgraded to improve safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.

The work includes:

• Only allowing left-turning traffic to move between Riccarton Road and Middleton Road, which will effectively make the junction of Ilam and Riccarton roads a T-intersection.
• Altering the layout of the intersection to accommodate dedicated bus lanes.
• Restricting access at the Field Terrace/Riccarton Road intersection to left in, left out traffic.
• Creating a new right-turn only lane from Riccarton Road into Wharenui Road.

The upgrade also covers drainage work, new traffic lights and islands, and line marking.

At the same time, work will continue on the Nor’West Arc cycleway. The new cycleway links cycling routes across the west of the city, running from Princess Margaret Hospital to Papanui. It is a key connector for the west of the city, passing nine schools.

This section runs along Middleton Road between Suva Street and Riccarton Road, and on Ilam Road, between Riccarton Road and University Drive. At University Drive it connects to Uni–Cycle, a cycle route between the University of Canterbury and the central city.

Contractors are also completing storm water, sewer and water work, including new kerbs and channels and landscaping.

Christchurch City Council Transport Planning and Delivery Manager Lynette Ellis says the integrated approach to the two projects “will minimise any disruption to road users”.

“We want to finish both projects by October,” she says. “We will need to introduce one-way traffic in the area for short periods and remove some on-street parking but the end result will benefit everyone.

“The new cycleway and intersection improvements will make it much safer for everyone to navigate the area and greatly improve cycling connections.

“The cycleway work is part of a lot of cycle connections being built through Riccarton with the Nor’West Arc route providing a north to south connection through the suburb and the South Express cycleway providing an east to west link.”

Find out more about the intersection upgrade and the Nor'West Arc cycleway.