First link in Quarryman's Trail opens

A pōwhiri and pedalling has marked the opening of stage one of a major cycle route that will eventually connect Halswell and the central city.

Construction started on the Quarryman’s Trail cycleway last October and the first 4.6 km section of the route, from Moorhouse Ave to Victors Rd is complete and has been officially opened today.

Students from Te Whānau Tahi School go for a ride on the new cycleway.

The route features several new sets of traffic lights and pedestrian and cyclist crossings at key intersections.

Christchurch City Councillor Pauline Cotter, Chair of the Infrastructure, Transport and Environment Committee, NZ Transport Agency Regional Director Jim Harland and Spreydon-Cashmere Community Board Chair Karolin Potter formally opened the cycleway today.

They were welcomed by students from Te Whānau Tahi School who led a pōwhiri. After the speeches the children jumped on their bikes to try out the new cycle path.

Cr Cotter says cycleways are a proven way to improve the health of a city, reduce congestion and lower the cost of infrastructure. The Quarryman’s Trail cycleway is already being well used with 5900 cyclists on Antigua Street last week and 1100 on Sparks Road.

“This is just another piece of the cycleway network that’s gradually slotting together and will make Christchurch New Zealand’s leading bike-friendly city. We’re really pleased to open this stage and we can see it’s already being well-used by cyclists and creating a safer route to school for children like the ones who are here today for the ceremony.”

Construction of the final stage of the Quarryman’s Trail cycleway, from Victors Rd to Te Hāpua in Halswell, will start in November.

Lynette Ellis, the Council’s Planning and Delivery Transport Manager, says the route will benefit motorists as well as improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists with the new intersections helping to ease congestion at peak times.

“The busy intersections of Lyttelton Rd and Sparks Rd and at Hoon Hay Rd and Sparks Rd which were previously roundabouts now have signals and the zebra crossing outside Hoon Hay School has been replaced with pedestrian signals which will make it much safer for children.”

Long term, the cycle route will provide a safe way for people to commute between Halswell and the central city, she says.

The Quarryman’s Trail is part of a network of Major Cycle Routes being built across the city by the Council to link shopping centres, businesses, schools, parks and popular recreation destinations.