Making cycling safe, convenient and fun in Christchurch

We're helping Christchurch City Council establish 13 new major cycle routes around the city to connect suburbs, shopping areas, businesses and schools and reduce congestion and make the city a greener, healthier place to live.

Focused at school age children, this new network will get people out of their cars and back on their bikes as the city rebuilds following the 2011 Canterbury Earthquakes. The cycle ways are designed to improve active transport in Christchurch, encourage improved community outcomes by increasing street activity and community interaction and enhance the health of Christchurch’s residents. The dedicated bike paths are designed to a high safety standard to encourage riders of all abilities to make a change in how they move about their city.

Beca leads a large project design team, named ‘Peloton’, with major sub consultants GHD and Stantec. The alliance is currently involved in the development of eight of the 13 routes, from route selection and design through to construction completion. Being involved in the design from route selection enables the team to constructively challenge some of the route options and consider the wider context of the network. The focus is on connecting the cycle routes and users to key amenities within the community to make sure more people use the cycleways. The Beca led team also manage the tender and contract award process, and oversee the construction of the cycle routes, fulfilling the construction monitoring and contract administration duties.

The designs involve an array of specialists, including civil, stormwater, traffic signal and urban design as well as the necessary planning and resource consent management. There is structural design in places, and activities such as Multi Criteria Analysis, CPTED assessment, and Safety and Network Functionality assessments are built into the major cycle route design process.

As part of the Peloton team we have already completed three of the routes, with four well advanced in the design process. We have already been talking to communities about how best we can include the next routes in their neighbourhoods. The community has been telling us how much they like the routes that have been completed so far and we are seeing positive growth in the number of cyclists heading into the CBD.