A scoping exercise to determine the future land transport options between Christchurch City and the Waimakariri District for the next twenty-five years

Abstract

The land transport links between Christchurch City and the Waimakariri District are increasingly under pressure from congestion at peak times. Six potential solutions have been identified; Christchurch Northern Arterial (rural), Western Belfast By-pass, Fourth Waimakariri River Crossing, Northern Motorway Six-Laning, Commuter Rail and Increased Bus Frequency. The six potential infrastructure proposals have been assessed by a multi-criteria analysis approach, consisting of a desirability criteria and public goal criteria. The ranking method was utilised to determine the weight of each performance measure within the two criteria.

The results identified three proposals for further assessment (Increased Bus Frequency, Christchurch Northern Arterial (rural), and the Western Belfast By-pass). A definitive proposal was unable to be selected and justified by using the multi-criteria analysis approach due to limitations in applying the approach. The approach cannot go beyond a scoping mechanism without addressing the limitations.