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Working party for Lichfield/Tuam street swap?
Working with interested groups to further
review the Lichfield-Tuam Street swap proposal
will be considered by the Christchurch City
Council when it meets on 21 November. The Lichfield/Tuam proposal – moving the
eastbound arterial road to Tuam Street and
making Lichfield Street a two-way local road – grew out of the City
Council central city revitalisation strategy. The thinking is that it
would have advantages for the city, with reduced congestion in the
inner city core, benefits for public transport, pedestrians and cyclists,
and would lead to amenity improvements along the Avon River. After reviewing feedback from a 10-week consultation, the Council’s
Sustainable Transport and Utilities (STU) Committee is recommending
that the review continue and that a working party be set up. If accepted by the full Council this month it would have five STU
Committee members (Councillors Carole Evans, Chrissie Williams, Ron
Wright, Sally Buck and chairman Denis O’Rourke), the chairman of the
Mayoral Forum or his nominee, two representatives from central city
businesses (one to be nominated by the Canterbury Employers
Chamber of Commerce), Environment Canterbury Councillor Diana
Shand, a road-user nominee from the New
Zealand Automobile Association and a
representative of the cyclists group Spokes. The STU recommendation also asks that a
report on the Council’s Hagley Avenue
cycleway proposal be resubmitted to it. A staff report on the street swap scheme suggested a working party
would help to find ways of dealing with concerns about the scheme. During the scheme’s 10-week consultation period more than 700 people
and groups wrote in, with just under 80 per cent against aspects of the
proposal. About 17 per cent either agree or strongly agree with it. The people who say they like the idea are more likely to either live
in the inner city or be public-transport users or cyclists. The main
concerns of those opposed say that a one-way Tuam Street will hurt
businesses there and on High Street or that the scheme will confuse
drivers and so discourage them from coming into the city for
shopping and recreation. The STU report says Lichfield Street is key to dealing with future
central-city traffic jams and assisting a smooth and efficient public
transport system. |