Residents welcome road work halt

Residents in the Christchurch suburb of St Albans are welcoming a decision to shelve a $50 million roading project designed to ease traffic travelling to and from the central city.

The decision will mean prolonged congestion for North Canterbury commuters.

The initiative to widen Cranford St, a main route north of the central city, to four lanes on a 700-metre stretch north of the Innes Rd intersection was moth- balled during a budget-setting meeting at the Christchurch City Council on Wednesday.

St Albans Residents’ Association co-chair Emma Twaddell was surprised and satisfied.

‘‘I think it’s very brave of the council,’’ she said. ‘‘Hopefully it’s connected to their desire to want to see some better outcomes for transport options in Christchurch.’’

Despite legal advice urging councillors to retain the project in the Long Term Plan, removed after a 7-6 vote.

Waimakariri Mayor David Ayers was ‘‘very disappointed by the decision’’ and urged the city council to reconsider before finalising the plan.

There was already ‘‘severe congestion’’ by Main North Rd and QEII Drive and in Marshland Rd.

‘‘We do know the vote was close, but the decision does fly in the face of long-standing agreements in the urban develop-

it was ment strategy,’’ he said.

The roading changes, which also included an extension of the northern arterial route through the Cranford basin, were designed to make the city more accessible from the northern suburbs, where another 9500 homes are expected to be built.

Addressing traffic flows on Cranford St has been under consideration for decades and the council was only weeks away from receiving a decision from com- missioners on whether to designate the land needed for it.

Staff advised councillors they were risking the organisation’s reputation and opening the council up to judicial review if they removed the project from the budget before the commissioners had made their decision, but Cr Yani Johanson refused to withdraw his amendment that axed the funding. Under his amendment, the council will reconsider the project next year.

Council chief planning officer Mike Theelen had advised councillors against deferring a roading project that had been years in the planning and that was supported by the NZ Transport Agency.

‘‘The northern arterial and Cranford St extension are inextricably linked. When you look at the northern arterial most of the benefits are derived from the link. The Government have only committed to the top half on the basis the link is put in place.’’