City Council looks to commit $144 million to public transport projects

Christchurch City Council is proposing to deliver a public transport programme valued at $144 million during the next 10 years.

While the completion of the Transport Interchange has been deferred 18 months to two years, Mr Parker says it is important Council takes time to develop a new facility which will provide for the city’s long term needs.

“Council faces having to build a new facility now because the existing facility was built in haste and does not anticipate the full impact of city and passenger growth.”

He says Council was far from sidestepping its regional transport responsibilities but rather being prudent and ensuring it delivered projects which meet the long-term needs of its residents and did not overburden its ratepayers.

“It would be irresponsible of this administration, particularly in these tight economic times, to look at promising a programme it knew it did not have the funds to deliver.

“In developing the draft Long Term Council Community Plan, this Council is looking at a rate rise of only 3.94%, which considering significant increases in infrastructure costs and inflation, is a remarkable achievement.

“In fact, Council’s commitment to public transport projects has risen to $144 million, $24 million more than was originally forecasted in this area.”

He says work was well underway planning for three bus priority routes in the key areas of Papanui Road, Colombo Street and Queenspark. These will be built at a cost of $6.6 million and will improve the performance of the existing Bus Exchange.

“These routes are part of the work Council needs to undertake to keep the Bus Exchange operating efficiently until the new Transport Interchange is built.

“Reality is the Council simply can not afford to spend $100 million on this one project in the next three years to deliver it to the original timetable. This would mean we would have no funding for other key infrastructure work.”

He says the bus priority routes are a key link with the Transport Exchange and will be completed within the next 10 years, and possibly a little ahead of schedule.

With the suburban interchanges, Mr Parker says there is only 60 per cent of the funding needed for these facilities; however, by looking for efficiencies and smarter operational planning, the Council may be able to deliver more of this work in the next 10 years.

“A number of sites have been identified, many of which are centred around shopping hubs, and the Council will look for opportunities to work in partnership with any developments in these areas to improve efficiencies.”

Under the draft LTCCP, the Council is looking to create an additional 26kms of cycle lanes during the next three years. While the budget for cycleways has been cut from $17.17 million to $10.28 million, Mr Parker says some of this work has been integrated into street renewal, bus priority and local roading improvement programmes.

“What we have done is look at where there are other projects happening in the area and have looked to incorporate cycleway funding into these projects. By integrating this work, we will deliver a better project and more cost efficiently for our community.

“It is important our residents are reassured that Council is still 100 per cent committed to creating cycleways within our city.”

Mr Parker says where the small number the projects have been dropped from the draft 10-year programme this is mostly to allow Council to undertake additional work and ensure what is planned will provide for the long-term needs of the city and is the best solution.

“For example, in the north of the city there is now a Transport Review being done for the Belfast area under the Urban Development Strategy. A number of projects in this area have been put on hold while this review is completed.”