Sumner area shipping containers update

Shipping containers along Heberden Avenue in Sumner will be removed early next week.

Ballasted shipping containers were placed on several sites after the February 2011 earthquakes to protect road users from rockfall, cliff collapse and debris flow hazards from the land behind the containers.

In Heberden Avenue, the earthquakes saw a number of rocks fall on the road reserve in the area. The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) designated a Section 45 area, which restricts or prohibits access due to hazards.

Approximately 100 metres of containers were placed along Heberden Avenue to prevent people going into the Section 45 area, and protect road users and pedestrians from rockfall.

The rockfall risk posed to people travelling through the area where the containers are situated has recently been reassessed. The area behind the containers has been checked and no rock debris has landed against the containers recently. The risk to life for commuters in this area is now at less than one in 10,000 in any one year. This is comparable to the normal level of risk on the roads.

Taking this risk reassessment into account, the Council will remove the containers in the area between number 2 Heberden Avenue and 140 Nayland Street, and replace them with fencing. This will see two-lane traffic return to this section of Heberden Avenue, but still prevent access into the CERA S45 rockfall zone. As there is still an ongoing a rockfall hazard in the area, rockfall warning signs, no parking signs and bollards will be erected along the eastern side of Heberden Avenue.

Updates on containers at other sites:

Main Road to Shag Rock Reserve (Peacocks Gallop)

Containers will need to remain at the Deans Head Corner and Clifton Hill end of the reserve until land remediation works at these sites is undertaken as part of the Sumner-Lyttelton Corridor road repair programme.

CERA and insurers are clearing houses from red zone land on Deans Head. Once this work is complete, works to reduce the risks to road users will begin. After these works are completed, the containers alongside the road will be removed.

Later this month, the Council will remove some shipping containers from the central section of the reserve to allow SCIRT to inspect wastewater pipes and manholes in the Shag Rock Reserve area.

Main Road to Moa Bone Point

The containers must remain in place for some time to come for safety reasons, so the current temporary traffic management plan will continue. The containers are needed until land remediation works at these sites is undertaken as part of the Sumner-Lyttelton Corridor road repair programme. Remediation works at Moa Bone Point are in the detailed design stage.

Wakefield Avenue, Sumner

Containers in Wakefield Avenue will remain in place as the risk of rockfall and cliff collapse in this area remains high. The containers are needed until remediation works at these sites is undertaken as part of the Sumner-Lyttelton Corridor programme. Remediation works at Wakefield Avenue are in the detailed design stage.

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