Better streets & spaces, Central city, Civil defence, Council updates, Extreme weather, Getting around, Have your say, Infrastructure upgrades, Natural hazards, Road safety, Speed limit review, Transport options  |  Yesterday

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Improvements on Moorhouse Avenue, speed limits around schools, tsunami sirens and Central City development contributions – here are the key decisions made at today's Christchurch City Council meeting.

Moorhouse Avenue

Upgrades are on the way for the Moorhouse Avenue intersections with Barbadoes and Madras Streets. 

Moorhouse Avenue is one of Christchurch's busiest transport corridors, with around 46,000 vehicles a day. 

It is a key route for people walking and cycling to and from Ara and the central city, with more people expected heading to events at the new stadium when it opens in April 2026.

The Council approved the following upgrades: 

  • Installing a new staggered ‘green man’ crossing on the east side of the Moorhouse Avenue, Gasson Street and Madras Street intersection with a waiting area in the current raised central median.
  • Installing priority crossings and speed humps on the existing slip lanes from Gasson Street onto Moorhouse Avenue and from Moorhouse Avenue onto Gasson Street.
  • Retaining the north-west slip lane from Moorhouse on to Madras with a priority crossing on a safer speed platform to slow traffic down.
  • Installing a new staggered ‘green man’ crossing on the east side of the Moorhouse Avenue, Barbadoes Street and Waltham Road intersection with a waiting area in the current central median strip.
  • Installing a priority crossing and speed hump on the existing slip lane from Moorhouse Avenue on to Waltham Road.
  • Repainting road markings, including cycle lanes. 

School speed limits

Speed limits outside all schools in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula will be lowered to 30km/h during select hours. 

To meet the Government’s Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2024 Christchurch City Council has adopted the Speed Limits around School’s Plan. 

This will see variable speed limits of 30 km/h on all roads outside school gates during morning and afternoon travel periods.

 On main roads, electronic variable signs will be installed while local neighbourhood streets will get static variable signs. 

All existing permanent 30km/h speed limits outside schools will remain. 

Tsunami sirens

Christchurch’s tsunami siren network will be reduced to minimise confusion on what to do in an emergency.

 Sirens are no longer considered suitable for the primary tsunami alerting method. 

They can cause confusion and delay communities responding as warnings can be mistaken for different hazards and distract from public education messages around responding to natural tsunami warning signs instead of waiting for official warnings. 

Sirens also provide limited information on the tsunami hazard, are reliant on power and can be inaudible in windy conditions. 

The Council’s primary alerting method, which is consistent with New Zealand and international best practice, has shifted to a multi-modal approach with Emergency Mobile Alerts (EMAs).EMAs are sent directly to cell phones so are still received even if the network is down.

However, for residents living in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula's orange or red tsunami evacuation zones, any earthquake that is particularly ‘long or strong’ is a sign to ‘get gone’. This means if the earthquake lasts for more than a minute, or if it is so strong that it’s difficult to stand up, you should evacuate the zone as soon as the shaking stops.

A small number of strategically positioned sirens where there is limited cell phone coverage or large numbers of people with limited access to cell phones, along with other media methods, will be used as a secondary alerting system. 

Changes to tsunami alerting system will be supported by increased community education and resilience building programmes and signage.

Development Contributions Rebate Schemes

The Council agreed to consult the public about two proposed new rebate schemes aimed at supporting development in the central city.

The first scheme would provide a rebate for the value of existing demand credits for buildings that have not been demolished within the Four Avenues. The consultation will also include options to ensure vacant sites within the Four Avenues are eligible for an existing demand credit.

The second scheme would introduce a rebate for central city residential developments of at least six storeys.

The schemes would sit alongside the proposed new Development Contributions Policy, which the Council uses to help recover some of the costs of providing infrastructure for new developments.