The Christchurch Northern Line Cycleway (previously informally known as the Railway Cycleway) is a long shared pedestrian and cycle path following the Main North railway in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. The route currently extends from Kilmarnock Street (

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scot ...

) in the south, through

Fendalton Fendalton is a suburb of Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand. History Fendalton was originally known as Fendall Town, named after the original settler of the land, Walpole Chesshyre Fendall (1830–1913). Fendall emigrated fr ...

and

Papanui Papanui is a major suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated five kilometres to the northwest of the Christchurch Central City, city centre. Papanui has a population of 3,645 consisting predominantly of Pākehā (New Zeala ...

to Northwood and

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in the north.

Route

Existing path

The path follows the route of the Main North Line, which is operational. It is essentially flat, varying in width from wide to wide depending on the available corridor. A description of the route can be found in a

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Ma ...

publication. Despite its commonly used name, the pathway is a shared pedestrian/cycle facility. It connects a number of schools (e.g.

Papanui High School Papanui High School (PHS) is a co-educational state secondary school located in Papanui, Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on Langdons Road, in a rapidly growing commercial area. It was formerly bounded by Northlands Mall, and Firestone. ...

, Waimairi School,

Christchurch Girls' High School Christchurch Girls' High School () in Christchurch, New Zealand, was established in 1877 and is the second oldest girls-only secondary school in the country, after Otago Girls' High School. History Christchurch Girls' High School was establishe ...

) and local shopping centres (Papanui,

Strowan Strowan is an inner city suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located approximately 5 km north-west of Christchurch's Christchurch Central City, central business district. It had a population of 3,705 at the 2013 census. It is located b ...

) and provides an off-road commuter connection from the northern suburbs to Riccarton and the central city.

Intersection control

The core section of the pathway (from Harewood Road to Matai Street) was constructed in the late 1990s / early 2000s. Of the five road crossings, three (Fendalton Road, Wairakei Road and Glandovey Road) were considered to require

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

control. One of the crossing points (Blighs Road) has since been retrofitted with traffic signals. The 2010 extension to Tuckers Road also included the creation of a signalised crossing at Northcote Road. The signalised crossings feature bicycle detectors on the pathway well in advance of the intersections, so that riders receive a green signal as they arrive at the crossings. Beginning in 2024,

KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise (SOE) responsible for rail operations in New Zealand and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered at 604 Great South Road, Ellerslie, New Zealand, Ell ...

began upgrading the crossings at Harewood, Langdons and Sawyers Arms Roads to introduce automatic safety gates where paths cross the rail tracks.

Path extensions

In 2024 a northern extension to the cycleway opened, continuing from Tuckers Road in Redwood north to connect with Main North Road south of Northwood. South, there are plans in the next decade to continue the pathway along the railway line through Riccarton across Riccarton Road and on to Blenheim Road and the Christchurch railway station. Longer-term, the current city transport strategic plan envisages linking this corridor with others along the railway lines to the west and southeast.Christchurch Transport Strategic Plan 2012–42, CCC

References

{{Reflist

External links

Christchurch City Council cycling website
Transport in Christchurch Rail trails in New Zealand