Opponents of Christchurch's Northern Corridor vow to fight on

Jake Kenny Reporter from Community News

A decades-long battle against a motorway in their backyard has been lost, but residents of an inner-Christchurch suburb say they will not give up the fight to reduce its impact.

The city’s long-awaited $290 million Northern Corridor motorway will partially open on Monday, to help bed in the chip seal surface before all four lanes open in mid-December.

The corridor extends the Christchurch Northern Motorway through to QEII Drive and Cranford St, and is designed to make travel times in and out of the city shorter.

On Thursday, the Christchurch City Council will vote on a new lane on Cranford St, between Innes Rd and Berwick St, and what it will be used for.

A report from a traffic engineer initially recommended a clearway, to help deal with traffic coming off the Northern Corridor, but this was met with fierce pushback from locals.

Councillors are now looking into a three-month trial of a bus lane.

Members of the St Albans Residents Association will be at the meeting, armed with banners and placards.

Some locals have opposed the Northern Corridor since its inception, with plans to run a motorway through the area into the heart of Christchurch in the pipeline since the 1960s.

What are your thoughts on the new Northern Corridor?