Delays expected as work starts to make ‘high-risk’ roundabout safer
Cashmere residents can expect three months of travel delays as the city council works to make a busy and dangerous roundabout safer.
Christchurch City Council is spending $700,000 to improve the roundabout on Colombo St at the junction with Cashmere Rd, Centaurus Rd and Dyers Pass Rd.
Work start today to install raised platforms, speed humps, zebra crossings and cycle crossings. Stormwater drainage will also be improved at the same time.
The initiatives, the council said, were designed to make the intersection safer by slowing traffic as it enters the roundabout.
Thousands of vehicles use the roundabout each day, including more than 2250 vehicles during the morning peak and more than 2400 in evening rush hour.
There are also more than 65 cyclists at peak times in the morning and more than 90 in the evening.
But the council said there was “a high collective and personal risk” at the roundabout due to the number of people who walk, cycle and scoot through it.
It is classed as having a “high crash rate” after 27 crashes were reported between 2010 and 2021. Ten resulted in serious injury and, of those, six people were riding a bicycle and four were riding a motorcycle or scooter.
A further eight crashes involved a person riding a bicycle that resulted in minor injuries.
A council report said evidence showed that if people were hit by a vehicle travelling at 50kph there would only be a 20% chance they would survive. At 30kph the survival rate increased to 90%.
The raised platforms have been designed to reduce vehicle speeds to 30kph.
The council consulted on the work in late 2022 and, after making some tweaks to the design, the Waihoro Spreydon Cashmere Heathcote community board approved the work last April.
More than 400 people submitted their views on the plan.
Of those, 143 were opposed, 86 were in support, and 197 did not give a clear view either way.
Council transport operations manager Stephen Wright said installing safe speed elements on all four approaches to the roundabout would mean people had more time to react and avoid a crash.
The work will also involve new kerb alignments, footpath improvements and new road markings, and is expected to be finished in July.
Wright said it would taking three months because the roundabout will remain open throughout.
However, the council will meetthe contractors this week to see if any additional measures can be taken to reduce the duration of the work.
“We’re asking people to expect delays and allow extra time when travelling through the area,” Wright said. “We acknowledge these improvements will be disruptive, but the community will benefit from a much safer roundabout in the long term.”