Significant traffic detour from 22 September for eight weeks – Kilmarnock St/ Kahu Road/ Kotare St

http://strongerchristchurch.govt.nz/article/traffic-detour-at-heart-of-riccarton-approaching-22-september-kahu-road-kilmarnock-kotare-st

Christchurch drivers who use the Kilmarnock St/ Kahu Road/ Kotare St route from Hagley Park towards the university each day will need to pick a different route from 22 September. (The week before the school holidays).

SCIRT’s McConnell Dowell team will be repairing the Kahu Road bridge near Christchurch Boys’ High School, past Riccarton/ Deans Bush. The bridge’s brick side walls collapsed in the earthquakes and there are cracks in the brick arched structure which need to be repaired from the riverbed.

As people will be under the bridge, removing bricks and repairing cracks, it will be unsafe for heavy loads, hence the need for this short-term closure.

To reduce the repair time, SCIRT crews will be double-shifted, 7 am to 10 pm, six days a week.

Cyclists and walkers won’t be affected with one side of the bridge open at any one time.

Why not do this work over the Christmas holidays?

• This project will take around eight weeks whenever it occurs so it is not possible to avoid the working year or the education year.

• The Christmas period is also when traffic increases on Riccarton and Fendalton Roads, so to add more to the loads on those roads then is more undesirable for retailers and road users.

• Thirdly, SCIRT staff also get a Christmas break, with many people working on the five-year infrastructure rebuild heading back to their families in other parts of the country.

Keeping everyone informed

Schools, the University of Canterbury, business owners and residents in this area have been kept informed and will have drive-on access to their properties. The bridge closure will not affect the Riccarton Market at the weekend or the operations of Riccarton House. Drivers can still access these sites and the Riccarton House carpark from the other side streets, eg Titoki St, or park on the Christchurch Boys’ High side of the bridge.

People will still be able to drive up to Anselm House bed and breakfast, on Kahu Road next to the bridge and work site opposite Christchurch Boys High, via the side streets off Kahu Road.

The numbers of vehicles and how the detours will affect Fendalton and Riccarton Roads

Kahu Road has more than 10,000 vehicles on an average working day. Traffic managers say that most of these drivers are likely to take Fendalton Road, which has between 21,000 and 31,000 vehicles a day and is one of the main routes to Christchurch International Airport. Riccarton Road, the other alternative has between 16,000 and 19,500 vehicles per day.

If you use these roads, you may need to build in extra time at peak periods as they will be more congested than usual. Other routes to Ilam or the north-west side of town, eg Glandovey Road, may also get more congested during these two months.

The detour points

Drivers will be detoured at the Straven Road/Kahu Road /Kilmarnock St traffic lights intersection and on the university side at Clyde/ Creyke Road/ Kotare St traffic lights (outside Medbury School). Electronic signs are advertising this change from this week and advertising will remind people of it also after the 20 September weekend. The school holidays start a week after the closure goes in place, which will relieve the pressure for those two weeks (29 September to 10 October). People living or working along Kahu Road will be able to access their properties through the side streets.

Read the work notice to get an overview of this project and the maps with detour routes. http://strongerchristchurch.govt.nz/work/activity/5579

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