End in sight for Riccarton Rd roadworks, after five years and $49 million
More than five years after contractors first started ripping up Christchurch’s busy Riccarton Rd, the city council says no more work is planned along the 3.2-kilometre stretch.
Since September 2016, the council has spent about $49 million refurbishing and modernising the street, which stretches from Hagley Park to Church Corner.
The work has added bus and cycle lanes, made safety improvements to intersections, and replaced scores of old wastewater and water pipes that had reached the end of their usable life.
The final phase of work involves laying new pipes under a 1.7km stretch of Riccarton Rd between Matipo St and Hansons Lane.
The city council's infrastructure, planning and regulatory services general manager, Jane Davis, said this phase would be completed by the end of February.
It would take until the end of March to complete most projects in surrounding streets, she added.
“[After this], we do not have any roadworks or major maintenance planned for Riccarton Rd,” Davis said, though she pointed out that, as with any road, unplanned work could arise.
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️