We’re reconstructing Athelstan Street and a section of Simeon Street to make these roads stronger and safer for everyone.

We've put an emergency one-way system in place on Simeon Street, near Barrington Mall. This one-way will be in place until at least Monday 25 November.

This is because we started nightworks on Sunday 17 November and the condition of the ground surface underneath the road is a lot worse than we were expecting. We need to strengthen the road before we can continue with our work.

Key information:

  • Local residents and businesses will still have access to their properties during the work period. The one-way system will help to manage this access and will limit the speed of vehicles driving through the work site.
  • There will be cones and construction vehicles while work is carried out. On-street parking will be unavailable at the work site.
  • We’ve delivered a works notice to the immediately affected residents and businesses.
  • This is a developing issue, and it's likely to change as we learn more about the extent of the poor ground conditions.

We know roadworks are disruptive for you, especially when they are unexpected. We’re working hard to improve the ground condition, and will soon provide more information about the next steps for this work.

Ngā mihi nui, thanks for your patience while we make these roads stronger and safer.

Key information

We'll be working on Athelstan Street and a section of Simeon Street at night between Sunday 17 November and Friday 6 December, weather permitting.

Our work involves digging up the road, stabilising the foundation and resealing the surface.

We're doing this work at night to increase safety for the public, as well as our crews doing the work. This will also enable us to complete the work faster and minimise the impact on all residents.

We'll be working between:

  • 7pm to 11pm milling the road. This involves removing the existing surface, and we'll do this earlier in the evening as it's the noisiest activity.
  • 10pm to midnight chip sealing the road. This involves adding the membrane layer, which is a less noisy activity.
  • 11pm to 5am laying the asphaltic concrete. This involves adding the new asphalt surface, which is also a less noisy activity.

Traffic impacts

It's important to us that you are fully informed of our plans, you'll find some additional information below:

  • There will be cones and construction vehicles while work is carried out. On-street parking will be unavailable in the work site areas.
  • You'll still have access to your property during the work period. However, one-way traffic management will be used to manage this access and the speed of vehicles driving through the work site.
  • Please let us know if you have any specific requirements for property access, such as for medical visits, home help, large vehicle deliveries/moving, or other planned work on your property.
  • Please note that residue from new surfaces, like asphalt and chipseal, can stick to your shoes or car tyres after the first few days of work being completed. Please be mindful of this when entering your garage or home. We've been working with contractors to source new products that limit this happening, and we have already been trialling them across the wider Christchurch area.
  • Work will be rescheduled if the weather is bad.
  • Surfaces may be uneven at times, but we will aim to minimise this.

Reducing disruption

We'll work hard to reduce unnecessary noise and disruption by:

  • Minimising reversing activities as we have reversing beepers fitted to our vehicles to improve safety.
  • Minimising vehicle movements throughout the work site.
  • Completing pre-work safety and operational meetings outside commercial businesses, rather than outside homes.
  • Briefing staff to keep noise to a minimum (i.e. no shouting over machinery)
  • Only use flashing lights on vehicles when needed.

Contact information

The contractor working on behalf of Christchurch City Council is Higgins Contractors Ltd.

  • Work specific (daytime): AJ on 027 277 5656 between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
  • Work specific (night shift): Jason on 027 365 5446 between 6pm and 6am.
  • General enquiries: Christine on 027 285 2023.

We know this work can be disruptive, and we appreciate your patience and understanding.

Visit our maintenance renewal programme webpage(external link) to stay up to date on our upcoming programme.