Making it safer and easier to get around as Rolleston grows

Selwyn District is growing rapidly. Based on current travel choices, SH1 through Rolleston could increase from around 24,000 to 33,000 vehicles over the next 20 years or so.

This will make it harder for people to get between Rolleston township and industrial areas, leading to rat-running, risk taking and increasing safety issues at uncontrolled intersections and long delays at the highway traffic signals.

An increase in rail activity is resulting in more traffic hold-ups at the Hoskyns Road level crossing.  Because the highway is close to the rail line there are short-stacking issues so longer vehicles are unable to queue safely at the level crossing barrier. This causes queues, delays, and serious safety concerns – approximately 40 near-misses – resulting in KiwiRail restricting freight trains to an inefficient 40km/h.

Developing a solution with the community

Investing in roads, rail, walking and cycling will mean people can travel through and around Rolleston more safely.

Travel times will be more reliable and having more travel choice will benefit the community, be more sustainable and help to grow the economy.

Improving the connection between town and industrial areas will make it easier for people to shop and support local businesses.

In mid-2021, Waka Kotahi shared initial draft plans for Rolleston with the community for feedback. These were based on past transport investigations and preliminary project analysis.

The draft proposal included safety changes to four highway intersections – as well as a new flyover designed to connect Rolleston’s residential and industrial areas over the highway and rail line and provide improved walking and cycling facilities. 

You can read the community feedback here:

Community engagement report – December 2021(external link)

Included in feedback from the community were requests for better connectivity to all areas and for more information on how the flyover alignment was decided upon – including the various options that were considered and the rationale.

You can read the background here:

The path to a flyover - SH1 Rolleston Transport Improvements [PDF, 3.9 MB]