Te Kaha Surrounding Streets

Submission from Spokes Canterbury

Reference: https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/haveyoursay/show/549

Tēnā koutou katoa

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed Te Kaha Surrounding Streets improvements. These changes are essential to ensure that users of the stadium have a great experience from day one and it is also an opportunity to improve day-to-day transport in Christchurch for everyone. A financially successful Te Kaka that attracts a wide range of large and medium events and provides a pleasant environment when not in use benefits everyone.

Introduction

Spokes Canterbury (http://www.spokes.org.nz/) is a local cycling advocacy group with approximately

1,200 followers. Spokes is affiliated with the national Cycling Action Network (CAN –

https://can.org.nz/). Spokes is dedicated to including cycling as an everyday form of transport in the greater Christchurch and Canterbury areas. Spokes has a long history of advocacy in this space including writing submissions, presenting to councils, and working collaboratively with others in the active transport space. We focus on the need for safe cycling for those aged 8 to 80.

Proposal

Two drivers inform our submission:

the need to bring 25 000 people to a typical event. If all these people come by bus or car, this equates to 500 coach-loads (at 50/coach) or 6000 cars (at 4/car).
improvements that will enhance the day-to-day transport needs of Christchurch people, in particular cyclists and other active transport users.

There is a lot to like about these proposed changes but overall, the proposal seems to pay little attention to the role that people on bikes, scooters, mobility scooters and other forms of active transport might play to enable the necessary number of people to get to the venue.

Perhaps a better place to start planning for Te Kaha might have been a travel plan, then re-organising the streetscape to meet the requirements of the travel plan. How will Te Kaha handle the crowds as they arrive to avoid people waiting on the roads and spilling out into the traffic?

Lichfield Street (Manchester to Madras)

Spokes strongly supports Option 1. This will create an amazing space for pedestrians and cyclists, and make accessing Te Kaha from the Bus Interchange more pleasant, attractive, and safer. Sight-lines are significantly improved for movements between cyclists, pedestrians, trams,

and drivers with the removal of on-street parking. Rain gardens, bicycle parking, and outdoor dining areas will be a real asset.

There is currently no formal cycling provision along this section of Lichfield Street. Sharrows would help. Spokes assumes that the wide path on the south side is shared
Many cyclists use Huanui Lane (or the path further east) and Poplar Street to move north/south across the city to hook up with other cycleways. This route avoids the shared cycle path on Manchester Street as it tends to have a lot of pedestrians particularly at the intersections and the major bus stop. There needs to be space on Lichfield Street to easily cross between Huanui Lane and Butchers Lane (currently a car park) as it allows a safe 90-degree angle crossing the tramlines on a bike and avoids the tight Poplar St turn.
As drawn, the turn into Poplar Street looks very tight. Cyclists tend to use the west side of the tram tracks as there is more space and pedestrians tend to use the east side. Purchasing a small triangle at the corner of 140 Lichfield Street would help avoid a new building being built potentially flush with the boundary that would create a blind spot. Already a popular pedestrian route, during an event there will be lots of pedestrians using Poplar Street to get to and from all the bars and restaurants around High Street and St Asaph Street.
While the tram might provide some nice atmosphere, its contribution to transporting the necessary numbers of people is miniscule and the tracks create hazards for both cyclists and pedestrians.
Good idea to include the slip lane from Madras St to Nurseryman Lane to maintain access to the carparking building. Can Ash Street and Poplar Street please be made no-car zones to prevent rat-running in this pedestrian area? Renaming them Lanes might also help to better indicate use.
The proposed cycle parking is appreciated and will be well used. There should also be provision for hundreds of spaces nearer to Te Kaka.
The Manchester Street/Lichfield Street intersection lights need a cycle option from the shared path on the south across Manchester Street (and for the cyclists coming down High Street) towards the Bus Interchange
Option 1 will make it very easy to close a portion of Lichfield Street for a bigger event. This should be designed in from the start, including signage.
The containers on Lichfield Street before the Bus Interchange that force cyclists into the traffic and pedestrians to the other side of the road need to be gone well before Te Kaka opens.

Madras Street (St Asaph to Latimer Square)

Spokes fully supports the need to cater for large numbers of people walking and using active transport to get to events by widening the footpath and the speed reduction to 30km/h.
It would be helpful to have a plan of the area immediately outside Te Kaha where bottlenecks are likely to occur.
The plan encourages cyclists to use the west side of Latimer Square which is safer. Cyclists will also want to ride through to Latimer Square so there needs to be enough space at the lights for this to happen.
Fully support mobility parking adjacent to the earthquake memorial garden on the CTV site.

Fully support widening the footpath, which necessitates the removal of on-street parking on the eastern side.

Fully support the flush median style paint separating the cycle lane, which visually narrows the road space and hopefully encourages a slower speed for motorists.
Fully support left-turn shared lane with sharrows on the approaches to Cashel and Hereford streets. How wide is the cycle lane along Madras Street? Does it meet the minimum width requirements? Will the painted sharrows be accompanied by signage instructing/reminding drivers it is a shared lane and cyclists should ride in the centre of this lane? Is there a wider education campaign planned to educate all road users on sharrows?
Will the paved areas at intersections be raised to encourage a reduced speed and space-sharing (while also reducing trip hazards for pedestrians)?
Fully support street trees and landscape planting to help absorb rainwater, make the space more attractive, and visually narrow the space to encourage slower travelling speeds. Will there be any bollards to prevent people parking/driving on the landscaped areas? Please try to think of all the non-rule abiding behaviour that could happen and try to plan to prevent it causing danger to other road users (cyclists, pedestrians, etc.). The changes will encourage more heavy/oversized traffic to use Moorhouse Ave, Bealey Ave and Barbadoes Street instead, where possible, which will increase safety for all.
Fully support bicycle parking stands being added wherever there is space to do so.

Madras Street (Moorhouse to St Asaph)

This is a dangerous section of road for pedestrians and cyclists. Every day you see close calls as cyclist and pedestrians try to cross the road from Countdown, the bus stop and the two side streets to Ara and back again.
Fully support the signalised pedestrian and cycling crossing between Ara and Countdown as staff and students are currently dashing between traffic to cross the road. This will also make it easier and safer to cross at Allen and Southwark Streets when the traffic is paused.
This design will improve safety for bus users outside Countdown.
Fully support the reduced speed limit of 30 km/h.
Fully support the proposed short section of shared path along the east side of Madras Street to improve access to the Ara campus. This will provide much safer counterflow access to Ara along Madras St.
Ara has had secure bike parking for its staff for many years, but until now City Council has not addressed the barrier to accessing this bike parking.
This is an opportunity to discuss with Ara ways of improving safe campus access for cyclists and pedestrians to the Rakaia and other buildings that could be integrated into this plan. Currently for cyclists and pedestrians the first option to access the Ara campus if coming from the north on the east side is the car park exit. There is room for a shared short path on Ara land from the road to the Rakaia entrance on the rough ground before the car park exit going south which would remove the conflict with vehicles.
Fully support the changes to car parking time limits. Previous work by Spokes and Ara has shown that many of these parks are occupied by employees of local businesses in the absence of meaningful time limits. It is the task of these businesses to provide for their staff.

Fully support the on-road cycle lane on the western side of Madras Street (with lots of green paint and flush median style paint where possible) and the wider shared path on the eastern side of Madras St.

Tuam Street (Madras to Barbadoes)

Spokes supports the conversion of the full length of Tuam Street to one-way traffic (for the section that is currently two-way).
The current separated cycleway should be extended from Madras Street to Barbadoes Street.
Fully support the widened footpath, necessitating the removal of on-street parking on the northern side.
While Spokes supports the retention of an on-road cycle lane on the northern side of Tuam Street for confident cyclists (with flush median style paint and green paint as often as possible), it is our least preferred solution unless the 5.8M path was also a shared space.
Fully support the installation of bicycle parking stands wherever there is space.
Fully support street trees and landscaping to make the space more attractive and help with stormwater management.
Fully support paved crossings at intersections – will these be raised to encourage safer driving speeds and minimise trip hazards for pedestrians?
Please reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h adjacent to Te Kaha as a bare minimum, but ideally the entire stretch (in fact the whole CBD for consistency and safety).
Perhaps include some mobility parking on the southern side?

Tuam Street (Barbadoes to Fitzgerald)

See our response to the Madras to Barbadoes section.

Lichfield Street (Barbadoes to Fitzgerald)

Spokes supports the proposal to two lane Lichfield Street
Fully support the reduction in speed limit to 30 km/h and the mid-block speed platform to encourage safer speeds.
The drop off area should be on the south side only during events to reduce the risk of dooring of pedestrians, scooters and cyclists.
Clarkson Avenue and Duke Street should have stop signs.
Fully support the paved area at the intersection with Barbadoes Street. Will this be a raised platform? The speed platform at the intersection with Clarkson Avenue includes the triangles that indicate a raised platform, but other paved areas do not include this paint marking. If other paved areas are also raised, please consistently use paint marking to indicate this change in surface level.
Fully support pedestrian crossing facilities at Fitzgerald Avenue. The Fitzgerald Ave intersection crossing should include a cycle option. Please ensure this is wide enough to manoeuvre in a wheelchair, mobility scooter, or cargo bike/trike.
Is it possible to include street trees and landscaping areas as per the other surrounding streets?

This will make the space more attractive and encourage slower speeds.

Fully support the 30 km/h red paint work on the road surface at the entrance off Fitzgerald Avenue. Please include this at the entrance off Barbadoes Street also.

Please include sharrow markings along the full length of this block, not just at the Barbadoes Street approach.
Fully support the right turning lane off Fitzgerald Avenue. Will there be turning arrows to improve safety at this point?

Barbadoes Street (Hereford to Tuam)

Spokes fully supports the proposal to cater for large numbers of people walking, by widening the footpath.
There seems to be little provision to cater for a wide range of people biking to Te Kaha from residential areas east of Barbadoes Street. Painted cycle lanes going down “high volume” roads only caters for the confident cyclists. There is significant evidence on the inadequacy of this approach, and the way it creates barriers for women, families and less confident cyclists. The footpaths should be shared.
Fully support widening the footpath, which necessitates the removal of on-street parking on the western side (there is a typo in the printed info).
Spokes supports reducing the speed limit to 30 km/h, ideally for the entire stretch in the CBD, but minimally from Armagh (making Christchurch East School safer to access) to Moorhouse Avenue (instead of the variable speed limit outside Catholic Cathedral College and Marian College).
Fully support pedestrian crossing upgrades at the intersections with Tuam, Lichfield, and Cashel Streets.
Perhaps the “unrestricted” parking on the eastern side should be P10 for better taxi/uber services plus some mobility parking?
Fully support the on-road cycle lane on the eastern side with the flush median style paint work and lots of green paint for confident cyclists.
Fully support installing cycle parking stands wherever there is space to do so.

What is missing

West-bound connectivity is absent between the end of the cycleway along Worcester Street and the Tuam Street and St Asaph Street cycleways.
1. The Te Kaha project is going to dramatically increase traffic in this area, so provision needs to be made for people on bikes via separated infrastructure.
2. Presently, people in the eastern areas of the city are short-changed for safe cycling infrastructure and Te Kaha will make this barrier worse.
Along the same lines, Hereford Street and Cashel Street are important direct routes from Linwood Avenue to Te Kaha yet no provision is made in the proposal for people riding their bikes along this route. Converting one or both to 30km/h would help.
A consistent approach to speed limits is missing from the proposal. A speed limit plan for the CBD is required, and ideally this would be 30km/h. Christchurch East School on Gloucester St is proposed to get a 30km/h zone on Gloucester Street between Fitzgerald and close to Latimer Square. Catholic Cathedral College/Marian College is proposed to get a variable 30km/h speed limit on Barbadoes

Street tween Ferry Road and Moorhouse Ave, and on Moorhouse Ave between Washington Way and Iverson Terrace (roughly). Consistency encourages better compliance, allowing speeds to be painted on the road when entering an area, and traffic lights to be properly synchronised.

Latimer Square is currently problematic for people riding bikes, especially travelling toward Bealey Avenue.
1. As previously noted, the Te Kaha project is going to dramatically increase traffic in this area. Latimer Square therefore needs to be included in the plan, and provision needs to be made for people on bikes.
There seems to be little provision for direct public transport access for large numbers of people to Te Kaha. As already noted, if 25,000 people come to an event this translates to 500 bus-loads of people at 50/bus.
1. The proposal notes a vague intention for “coach, taxi and uber drop-off / pick up points east of Barbadoes Street” but does not specify where.
2. There seems to be no provision for people who might travel mixed-mode. Will there be designated park and ride/cycle/scooter areas?
3. The underlying assumption is that people will drive their cars to events at Te Kaha. Spokes finds this assumption disappointing and a lost opportunity to encourage alternatives (and reduce carbon emissions).
Where will the major bike parking be located for events? Hundreds of spaces are potentially required. Making it easier to cycle to events will reduce vehicle traffic and make it more pleasant for all.
There is no mention of safety considerations in this area such as improved lighting.