The cycleway is still under construction and will connect the city’s western boundary in Templeton to Hagley Park and the central city as part of the 13 Major Cycle Routes network.
He was against the location because the road already has high volumes of traffic and the lanes would impact customer accessibility to his premises.
“The way they re-do the road will affect access to my business. It won’t close down, but it’ll definitely affect it,” he said.
“Why would you add traffic to an already busy street? It’s crazy, you’re creating a problem, not fixing it.”
Chernoshoff was not against the need for cycleways in Hornby but felt Christchurch City Council could have chosen an alternative route.
Installing it on quieter streets, such as Moffett St and Kathleen Cres, would take cyclists away from the busy traffic on Waterloo Rd, making it a safer route for them, and did not impact businesses as much.
Greater Hornby Residents Association chairman Marc Duff took these concerns about overcrowding of the roading network in Hornby to the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board.
It has now asked the city council whether any business studies were undertaken to measure the impact the new cycleway on Hornby businesses.
“It just does not make sense to the GHRA – why you would build a cycleway that will have a negative impact on business and also cause more safety issues on what is already deemed a major traffic safety issue.”
The association has called for a major review of Hornby traffic to be undertaken within 90 days, that residents’ safety concerns on the cycleway are addressed, and an independent impact report is carried out on communities and businesses one year after the route has been opened.
Duff said an update on the city council’s next steps will be discussed at a later community board meeting in the next few weeks.
