Cycleway celebration as funds approved
Long-awaited coastal pathway to be completed seven years early with $15m Government boost
Cycling campaigners are celebrating after $15 million was earmarked for the final section of Christchurch’s coastal pathway as part of the Government’s $3 billion Covid-19 infrastructure spend-up.
Work will start within the next six months on an 800-metre stretch of pathway linking Redcliffs and Shag Rock – which was not expected to begin until 2027 at the earliest under council plans.
Canterbury will benefit to the tune of $300m from the fund, ministers announced yesterday, the second-highest amount for any region in the country.
Details of how the remaining $285m will be allocated are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
The Government has approved 150 projects after 1924 submissions for funding were received, which it hopes will create 20,000 jobs.
Elsewhere in the South Island,
$90m is destined for the West Coast, $85m for the top of the South region – including $11m for the Blenheim Art Gallery and Library – while Southland gets $90m.
The Christchurch Coastal Pathway Group, which was behind the
$15m bid, said the final section would create a safe and beautiful connection between communities.
‘‘The complete pathway will be a stunning asset for the future of Christchurch to use and enjoy and will be a major drawcard for visitors to the region,’’ chairman Hanno Sander said.
The money means the full potential of the 6.5-kilometre pathway, linking Ferrymead and Scarborough Beach, can now be realised.
The first section opened in 2015 and the penultimate 780m Sumner stretch, costing $6m, was completed late last year.
However, Christchurch City Council pushed funding for the final 800m section until 2027 – 12 years since the first section opened.
Pathway Group member Tim Lindley said the final part was the most expensive because it was incredibly complex and involved building a cantilevered pathway out over the Avon Heathcote Estuary.
It is estimated the completed pathway will attract more than a million visits a year, making it the second most used facility in the city, after the museum and the Arts Centre.