|
Final link in eastern ring road open
The final
link in Christchurch’s
eastern ring road was officially opened late last month. The last part
of the network, south of the Avon River from Eureka Street to Birch
Street, completes the expressway corridor from Main North Road at St
Bedes College
to Dyers Road and on to the Tunnel Road and Lyttelton. The $16 million
roading project included building a 50m three-lane bridge over the Avon,
which opened in September 2001. With the expressway’s completion,
it is expected that Transit NZ will make it State Highway 74. At the
moment SH 74 gives access to the port from the north through the central
city. Work on the final piece of the puzzle started in July last year. What
was made was a two-lane road south of Bexley Road with a cycle and pedestrian
pathway on its south side. A roundabout at Pages-Bexley was removed and
traffic lights have been installed where the new expressway crosses Pages
Road. Councillor Denis O’Rourke, Chairman of the Sustainable
Transport and Utilities Committee, says the work has created an efficient
and safe
road for heavy traffic linking the Port of Lyttelton to the state highway
system. “ It completes the ring road system Christchurch has needed
for so long,” Cr O’Rourke says. “The new expressway
relieves pressure on local streets that were not designed to carry arterial
traffic, such as Bexley Road. “
It’s also one of the city's most attractive arterial roads.
The City Council is proud to have achieved this with assistance
from Transfund and Transit New Zealand.”
|