Repairs underway on New Brighton Road
Christchurch City Council Newsline: 21st November 2023
A section of New Brighton Road is being raised and renewed to resolve long standing flooding and pothole issues.
Work has begun and will be completed in two stages.
Stage one will see the road between Lake Terrace Road back towards the pump station renewed, while stage two will see a new bridge structure built close to the existing culverts outside the pump station after Christmas.
The road will be raised between 800-1000mm and prevent any future issues with flooding. Once the bridge has been completed, the road will then be resurfaced to the corner of Locksley Avenue.
City Streets Maintenance Manager Steve Guy says the road outside the pump station on New Brighton Road slumped after three culverts separated during the 2010/11 earthquakes.
“The culverts have been functioning, but not to their full capacity like before the quakes, so the slump has meant water ponds on the road and doesn’t drain away. As drivers head through the water, it is forced under the road surface and that’s what causes the potholes to appear,” he said.
“We have been working with our colleagues in Three Waters to come up with a permanent solution to the issue. Raising the road will help solve flooding issues, as well as enable us to renew the surface along that stretch of road.”
New Brighton Road is currently down to one lane with traffic lights managing the two-way flow.
“During stage one we will be working on both sides of the road, and this will be completed either by using traffic lights, or manual traffic control, as this allows traffic to still flow through the site and reduces the impact on the public," Mr Guy said.
"There have been some delays getting through the site, most of which have been caused by cars not sitting at the stop sign, but instead stopping some way past it. This has resulted in the traffic lights not picking up on the fact that a vehicle is waiting to move through the site, so the lights don’t change.”
The road open to all traffic over the Christmas period. Stage two will begin after Christmas, and will include the building of the bridge and raising of the road.
"The only way we can do this is by closing the road with detours in place. In order to ensure the least impact on the surrounding area, Council has restricted the amount of other works that can be completed on any of the detour routes.
“We know this has been a long-standing issue, so it’s been great to get a permanent solution being delivered. We would like to thank everyone for their patience to this point, and bear with us whilst we do our best to get the work completed as fast as possible,” he said.