Is it just me or is Christchurch traffic getting noticeably worse lately?
Maybe I’m imagining it, but peak hour traffic in Christchurch feels noticeably worse than it did even a year or two ago. And it’s not just stadium event nights. Normal weekday mornings and afternoons seem increasingly clogged up too.
Routes that used to flow pretty well now regularly back up for ages. Add roadworks, school traffic, buses, freight, and everyone trying to get through the central city at once, and it feels like the city’s infrastructure is struggling to keep up.
Anyone else noticing this, or is it just me?
Genuine question, would Christchurch eventually need something like a central city congestion charge during peak hours? Obviously there would need to be exemptions for people living on or within the Four Avenues.
Not as a punishment for drivers, but ringfence the money specifically for better public transport. Things like:
- More park and ride facilities
- Higher frequency buses during peak times
- Better suburban express routes
- Smarter traffic light coordination
At some point just widening roads forever probably stops working (not that there is even much of that going on anyway). Part of me wonders whether something like this should be introduced earlier rather than waiting until congestion becomes completely unmanageable, so the revenue can start funding improvements before the problem gets even worse.
Curious what other people think, because driving around Christchurch lately feels noticeably more painful than it did even a few years ago.