Summary
- Christchurch City Council is planning to install a raised pedestrian crossing across Deans Ave.
- The raised crossing is scheduled to receive Central Government funding and was estimated to cost $590,000.
- Funding is to be sourced from the Christchurch Regeneration Acceleration Facility (CRAF).
- Deans Ave is the boundary between the Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board on the west and the Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board in the east.
- The two community boards each voted to support different crossing plan options in the 27 March 2025 meeting.
- The result of the conflicting votes is a plan to only have the raised platform speed bumps on the eastern side of the road, according to Star News.
- In the joint Community Board meeting, the risk of vibrations from the speed bumps damaging pipe infrastructure was raised along with concerns that designs can put pedestrians in conflict with motor vehicles.
- Other concerns raised were the speed bumps frustrating traffic traffic on a major road and the need for a crossing without further delays.
- There was public interest in installing traffic lights. However, it was argued that there was not enough budget for a light-controlled crossing. There is a plan to install ducting near the crossing to future-proof the possibility of installing traffic lights.
- Community Board members expressed concern following the vote about how the online joint meeting was difficult to follow and the different options were not explained well.
Map of Community Board Boundaries. Sourced and slightly modified from the CCC website
Links
The Council meeting Agenda:
https://christchurch.infocouncil.biz/Open/2025/03/JM-WH_20250327_AGN_10517_AT.PDF
Video of the joint Community Board meeting:
Meeting minutes:
https://christchurch.infocouncil.biz/Open/2025/03/JM-WH_20250327_MIN_10517_AT.PDF
Article Details
Headline: Proposed pedestrian crossing ‘bit of a joke’ as different plans to be used for each side
Published on: 31 March 2025
Published by: RNZ
Link:
Archived Link:
Headline: Crossing decision mired in boundary bureaucracy
Authored by: Dylan Smits
Published on: 11 April 2025
Published by: Star News
Link:
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-christchurch/crossing-decision-mired-boundary-bureaucracy
Archived Link:
Important Quotes
“Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central community board member Ali Jones, who was seeking a council seat at October’s election, called the situation “Monty Python-esque”.
She said it was “insane” to have a single piece of road with a decision made for one side, and a different decision for the other.
“A bit of a shemozzle might be the way to describe it,” she said.
Jones voted against the crossing because she did not share others’ safety concerns, having been told there was one incident between a pedestrian and a vehicle in the last decade.
“That’s not great of course, it’s terrible but we have to look at things in degrees of reasonableness here,” she said.
“You’ve got to look at what the problem is you’re trying to solve, you’ve got to look at spending $500,000-plus on something and you’ve just got to apply some common sense””
Proposed pedestrian crossing ‘bit of a joke’ as different plans to be used for each side, RNZ, 31 March 2025
“The Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton and Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central community boards each have jurisdiction over one side of Deans Ave, with Waipuna in charge of the western, northbound side and Waipapa the eastern, southbound side.
At a joint video meeting on March 27, both boards approved a new pedestrian crossing near the mosque, but only Waipapa supported the installation of speed humps.
The decision means the $590,000, Government-funded crossing will have speed humps on the narrowed southbound lane but none on the single lane heading north.”
Dylan Smits in Crossing decision mired in boundary bureaucracy, Star News, 11 April 2025
“Some members have said the joint meeting should have been held in person.
Waipapa board member and Innes Ward candidate Ali Jones said at times it was “hard to understand what was going on” over the video chat.
Deputy Mayor Pauline Cotter, who forwarded the motion to approve the safety measures on the Waipapa side, agreed the meeting would have been better in person.
Filsell said holding the joint meeting via video link was not “usual practice.”
The online format was used to ensure Waipapa members could attend a planned information session afterwards – which was ultimately cancelled when the Deans Ave discussion ran long.
Some members were also frustrated other design options were not fully prepared by council staff.
If Waipapa had voted for anything other than option one, staff would have needed more time to investigate, delaying the project.
Jones said she had been “bamboozled” by the situation.”
Dylan Smits in Crossing decision mired in boundary bureaucracy, Star News, 11 April 2025
Further reading on this issue
Hamilton’s $689,000 raised crossing design replaced with a $546,000 “at-level” crossing
