The roads into Christchurch from the south currently reach capacity during peak-hour travel times leading to delays for motorists travelling to and from the Christchurch City Centre, Lyttelton Port and industrial areas in the south and east of the city. Traffic volumes and congestion are likely to worsen over the next decade, due to growth in the south and southwest, if significant improvements are not made.
The NZTA is upgrading the Christchurch Southern Corridor in three stages:
Stage 1 - Christchurch Southern Motorway Stage 1 (CSM1) connects the Brougham Street Arterial (SH 73) in the east with Main South Road (SH 1 via Halswell Junction Road) in the west with a four-lane median separated motorway. Construction works for CSM1 commenced in February 2010 and are likely to be complete in early 2013.
Stage 2 - Christchurch Southern Motorway Stage 2 (CSM2) will link to CSM1 and consists of a four-lane median separated motorway, from Halswell Junction Road to join SH1 near Robinsons Road.
Stage 3 - Main South Road Four-Laning (MSRFL) involves four laning the existing two-lane state highway (SH1) from Robinsons Road to near Rolleston.
This project involves Stage 2 (CSM2) and Stage 3 (MSRFL).
From October to December 2010 NZTA ran a consultation seeking feedback on the alignment and design options for CSM2 and MSRFL. Since this time we have analysed the community feedback and continued with investigations and design work on possible alignments and intersections.
Based on feedback and work done to date, we have chosen a route for CSM2 that lies south of Marshs Road and between the two proposed routes within our original study corridor presented in the October-December 2010 consultation.
For MSRFL we are widening the road to the west (towards the existing railway) which will require a strip of land up to 22m wide from properties on the north of the existing state highway.
A project newsletter (PDF, 1.34 MB) with details of the chosen alignment for the new motorway was distributed to all stakeholders and households in the project area in August 2011. The public were also given the opportunity to give feedback on aspects of the chosen alignment at 3 open days and via an online feedback form. (Please note - The NZTA contact details on this newsletter are out of date please find correct info on the contacts page)
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Next Steps
Over the next 12 months the project team will be developing a detailed design for the motorway. This will include landscaping and plans for noise and other mitigations. The detailed design will then need building and resource consents to go ahead.
The consenting programme for the project will start in mid-2012. The NZTA is planning to lodge the consent application for this project with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) as a project of national significance. As part of this process members of the public can make a submission and be heard at a public hearing. Public hearings are likely to be held between late 2012 and mid 2013.
At this stage, construction of this project is planned to start in 2015/16 subject to consents and funding.
Roads of National Significance
The government has identified CSM1, CSM2 and MSRFL as roads of national significance (RoNS). These roads are critical for supporting economic growth, reducing congestion and improving safety in our region.
Read more information on the roads of national significance.
