Christchurch City Council transport planning and delivery manager Jacob Bradbury said a trial is under way on Hampshire St, Rowan Ave, Breezes Rd and Shortland St in Aranui to make the area safer and more people-friendly, particularly around schools.
The work includes new pedestrian crossings, speed bumps, intersection upgrades, bollards outside the Hampshire St shops and wider footpaths.
Construction work on the upgrades finished on Monday with formal feedback now open until April 15. But the community has already made it clear the bollards outside Wainoni Park were not working for them.
"So we’ve taken (the bollards) out," Bradbury said.
"We heard from nearby industrial businesses that the treatment at the Tahuna Street and Shortland Street intersection wasn’t quite right, so we engaged with them and changed that too.
"The community is really engaged with this project, which is great because we can make changes quickly based on their real time feedback and lived experience,” Bradbury said.
Bradbury said the overall budget is $2.6 million with about $700,000 being spent to date.
The project comes after safety concerns were highlighted by schools and groups, including Haeata Community Campus, St James School, Chisnallwood Intermediate, the Aranui Community Trust Inc Society and police.
Designs were then developed with input from students and the public gave feedback on them in September 2023. The work was approved by the Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board and the city council late last year.
Bradbury encouraged everyone who lives in the area or travels through it to let the city council know what they think. In June the community board is set to decide what parts of the project will stay, be changed or removed.
