Manchester St more like ‘bus boulevard’
Buses have taken over Christchurch’s ‘‘Manchester Boulevard’’, fresh from its $20 million upgrade, with bumper-tobumper queues of cars lining the road during rush hour.
Authorities say its all part of a wider plan for transport in Christchurch, which aims to move car traffic from Manchester St to nearby streets so the bus service is more effective.
Two years of work to the 850 metre section of road are functionally complete, with traffic coming to terms with the new road layout. The road reopened to two-way traffic in June after two years of interruptions.
Congestion has been nose-to-tail for cars during rush hour, frustrating regular drivers, while buses have been gliding past the queues in their designated lanes.
On Tuesday evening, government/ council transport advisory organisation Transport For Christchurch posted on social media saying Manchester St traffic was heavy, recommending motorists travelling through the CBD to use Barbadoes or Madras streets.
‘‘The use of Manchester St should be reserved for when this is your destination as it has been designed as a bus priority corridor,’’ the social media post said.
Councillor Deon Swiggs said the street needed to work for all modes of traffic. ‘‘You’re always going to have traffic on the streets around the city as people are trying to get out of the city, and it’s just ridiculous to say ‘oh it’s a bus priority lane, don’t use it’.’’
At peak traffic time, drivers using the street were getting delayed, causing a lot of frustration, and a solution needed to be found. He had asked council staff to look into it, he said.
Swiggs thought the cause of the congestion problems was the intersection with Hereford St, where the lights heading north and south were out of sync. This caused a bottleneck which spread down the road, Swiggs said.
When approached by The Press, one driver waiting at the lights said she would choose another route to come to work as ‘‘all the buses just keep coming in in front of you, it’s taking a long time to get down here’’.
O¯ takaro project manager for An Accessible City Marlene Pope said the street’s design prioritised buses and was designed for cars to use only to get to businesses or car parks solely accessible from Manchester St.
‘‘For what was essentially quite a congested piece of carriageway that often held buses up, this creates a more effective operation for buses.’’
Environment Canterbury manages the Canterbury public transport network. Senior manager Stewart Gibbon said Manchester St was a ‘‘core corridor’’ for public transport, used by routes including the Blue Line between Rangiora and Cashmere, the 17 from Burnside to the city, the 28 between Papanui and Lyttelton and the 29 from the airport to the city.
The upgrade, which runs between Lichfield and Kilmore streets, is part of the the controversial An Accessible City transport plan which prioritises different methods of transport on inner city streets to move cars away from the centre of the city. Manchester St is designated bus priority in the plan.
Bus lanes and stops have been added, footpaths widened and tree planting and other landscaping completed as part of the works.
There are two bus ‘‘super stops’’ (one for each direction) near the middle of the upgrade. When a bus pulls into one of the stops, it triggers a sensor which tells a nearby traffic light to turn red, stopping car traffic so the bus can pull out in front of the cars.
Pope said designers were trying to create a theme of ‘‘Manchester Boulevard’’ with the upgrade, making it very user friendly for pedestrians and buses.
The upgrade work started May 2016, and was completed months behind schedule, in part because of a funding freeze implemented by former Rebuild Minister Gerry Brownlee over concerns with An Accessible City.
‘‘The use of Manchester St should be reserved for when this is your destination as it has been designed as a bus priority corridor.’’ Transport For Christchurch