Madras St to return to three lanes

The barriers restricting traffic along Madras St, between Lichfield and Tuam streets, are being removed and the road restored to three lanes.

The Madras St barriers are being removed.

The barriers were put in place because of safety concerns about the building at 216 Madras St.  They had to be put on the roadway - cutting Madras St from three lanes to two - to create a safe fall zone in the event of the building collapsing.

However, the owner of the building has now been served with an earthquake-prone building notice requiring them to remove the barriers and instead use shipping containers as fall protection.

The shipping containers can go on the footpath, allowing Madras St to re-open to three lanes of traffic.

“The containers are due to be installed tonight and will remain in place until the building has been demolished,’’ said Christchurch City Council Head of Building Consents Robert Wright.