Car parks make way for cycleways in central Christchurch
A plan to scrap about 100 kerbside car parks on a busy inner-city street for a cycleway has reignited debate about road-sharing.
A proposed $3.5 million overhaul of St Asaph St by the Christchurch City Council would remove almost half of the 208 car parks for a separated cycleway.
It would also close the eastbound contraflow lane on St Asaph St near CPIT, between Madras St and Ferry Rd.
The plan was being developed under An Accessible City, the transport chapter of the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan.
Business owners near St Asaph St believed the plan put pedestrians and cyclists ahead of motorists, at the expense of their businesses.
The Central City Business Association said it was aware of "significant concerns" from retailers about the loss of car parks.
Cafe Valentino, Arts The Printers, The Drawing Room, the Canterbury District Health Board and Hospitality New Zealand expressed concerns about fewer parking spaces.
Nicky Arts, owner of Arts The Printers, said the changes would isolate businesses such as hers.
The changes would mean motorists circling for parks on lower High St would need to take a five block detour to return, she said.
"We're far enough from the CBD that people don't want to walk to us. Destination shops need easy access."
High St had traditionally been a place for a small number of niche retailers, but they became unfeasible if they were difficult for motorists to access.
"By making access so difficult, they're locking out a good proportion of our older people. I'd love to see a bicycle-friendly, pedestrian-friendly city that has a balance - that seems to be the word we've lost.".
Last month, new research commissioned by the NZ Transport Agency found business owners often overestimated the value of car parks to their business.
The report cited the installation of bus lanes on Papanui Rd in 2009 as an example of a negative outcome - the council proposed to scrap all car parks along the road, but opted for a compromise after opposition.
"This ultimately created disjointed lanes and removed capacity at a number of intersections," the research found.
Paul Burden, the council's acting transport and city streets unit manager, said compromises between stakeholders were necessary.
"Compromise is part of the process of delivering improvements to the road network. In most cases, the council is able to still meet its objectives while satisfying the needs of stakeholders."
Dr Glen Koorey, a transportation engineering lecturer at the University of Canterbury, said Christchurch's rebuild was an opportunity to provide equal access for all modes of transport.
"It's something we haven't historically done well, [to] provide cycling access into the city . . . if we do want to encourage people to come back into the city on all modes, we have to make serious attempts like what we've done on Tuam St and what we're going to repeat on St Asaph St," he said.
"If you've always had easy access driving somewhere and always had ready parking availability, then it's hard for some to change the status-quo."
The CDHB submission said it was "generally supportive" of the cycleway, but asked the council "explore opportunities to retain additional on-street parking spaces", which hospital patients and visitors could use.
Written by Charlie Mitchell. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.
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