Christchurch Northern Motorway

Christchurch Northern Motorway
State Highway 1
Route information
Maintained by NZ Transport Agency
Length:	10.2 km (6.3 mi)
Existed:	16 October 1967 – present
Major junctions
From:	Woodend
	State Highway 71 at Lineside Road
To:	Belfast
Location
Major cities:	Kaiapoi
Highway system
New Zealand state highways Motorways and expressways List Unused

The Christchurch Northern Motorway is a motorway north of Christchurch, New Zealand, linking the northern Christchurch suburb of Belfast with Pineacres, between Woodend and Kaiapoi, bypassing the Kaiapoi area. The motorway is 10.2 kilometres (6.3 mi) in length, and is four-lane divided except for the two-lane undivided section between the Lineside Road/Smith Street interchange and the northern terminus. The motorway forms part of State Highway 1.

Route

The Christchurch Northern Motorway begins in the suburb of Belfast at an intersection with Main North Road about 10 km north of the Christchurch CBD. For the first few kilometres it crosses the Waimakariri River and runs to the west of Kaiapoi with interchanges at Chaneys (with Main North Road), Tram Road and Ohoka Road. Approximately 7 km after the motorway begins is the Lineside Road interchange (providing access to Rangiora), where the motorway reduces to just two lanes undivided. The motorway ends further north at Pineacres, where it intersects with Main North Road again.

History

Looking north from the Ohoka Road Interchange.

Plans for a motorway network in Christchurch were first revealed in 1962, with the release of the Christchurch Master Transportation Plan. Under this original plan the Northern Motorway was to run south from Chaneys, to the east of Belfast and Redwood and through Mairehau, St Albans and the CBD, to an interchange with the Christchurch Southern Motorway at Waltham.^[1]

In the late-1960s a section of the Northern Motorway was constructed north from Belfast to Pineacres, a distance of about 10 km. Plans for extending the motorway towards the city were scaled back in 1975 so that the Northern Motorway would terminate at the northern edge of the CBD at Bealey Avenue. In the mid-1990s, the motorway designation through St Albans was removed, with the planned extension now terminating at Queen Elizabeth II Drive.^[1]

A $4.6 million project to add new north facing on and off ramps to the Lineside Road interchange, to increase motorway accessibility north from Kaiapoi and relieve the dangerous Pineacres intersection, was completed in 2014.^[2]

Future

Proposed projects associated with the Christchurch Northern Motorway, from north to south:

• Woodend Bypass - A proposed extension of the Northern Motorway from Pineacres to just north of Woodend. It would pass to the east of Woodend and to the west of Pegasus and would carry about 80 percent of the current 14,000 vehicles travelling through Woodend. The existing section of motorway between the Lineside Road interchange and Pineacres would be duplicated to four lanes. NZTA is currently seeking a designation for its preferred route. It is expected to be built in the next 10–15 years (reviewed periodically).^[3]
• Pineacres Intersection Improvements - Subject to funding, improvements to the Pineacres intersection, at the northern end of the motorway, will be looked at when the Lineside Road Interchange project is complete. This work is likely to include the widening of the existing road and the construction of islands at the intersection to improve lane separation.^[3]
• Western Belfast Bypass - An under-construction limited access, four lane median separated road between the Northern Motorway and Johns Road bypassing the Belfast urban area. An additional northbound lane is planned on the Northern Motorway across the Waimakariri bridge to aid merging traffic from the Northern Corridor Extension.^[4]
• Christchurch Northern Corridor Extension - As part of the New Zealand Roads of National Significance Programme, the Christchurch Northern Motorway will be extended from Chaneys interchange, and terminating in a roundabout with Cranford Street. This new motorway will bypass Belfast and Redwood to the east, and fly over QEII Drive with a full Diamond Interchange.^[5] An off road cycleway is also proposed between QEII Drive and Belfast Road. A contract was awarded in August 2016 for the $240 million motorway extension project. Construction commenced in October 2016 and is expected to take four years to complete.^[6]
• Cranford Street Upgrade - Cranford Street will be upgraded to four lanes from the new motorway terminus to the Innes Road intersection as a Christchurch City Council delivered project.^[7][6]

Major junctions

Territorial authority	Location	km	Destinations	Notes
Waimakariri District	Pineacres		SH 1 (Main North Road) – Picton (Williams Street) – Pineacres, Kaiapoi	Christchurch Northern Motorway begins
	Kaiapoi		SH 71 (Lineside Road/Smith Street) – Kaiapoi, Rangiora	Full interchange
			(Ohoka Road) – Kaiapoi, Rangiora	Full interchange (Northbound entrance using Cosgrove Road)
			(Tram Road) – Ohoka, Oxford	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		327.0	Waimakariri River
Christchurch City	Chaneys		(Main North Road) – Kainga, Christchurch via Marshland	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Belfast		(Main North Road) – Bridgend, Kainga, Chaneys SH 1 (Main North Road) – Belfast, City Centre (Dickeys Road) – Coutts Island	Christchurch Northern Motorway ends

References