Kia ora Cody,

Thank you for your email.

We are handling your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA). We have forwarded it to the appropriate Christchurch City Council staff, and we will provide a response or update within 20 working days of the date we received your request. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

If you have not had a reply withing 10 working days please contact us by email at [Christchurch City Council request email]

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me. If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact me so that these can be taken into account.

Kind regards,
Ella

Ella Sullivan
Official Information Advisor
Office of the Mayor and Chief Executive

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Kia ora Cody

I refer to your request for information on the use of prefabricated materials for major cycle routes:

In the context of Major Cycleways (MCR) construction. Why is Council not making use of prefabricated materials in designs? Has Council conducted cost benefit analysis on the use of prefabricated materials vs. traditional methods (such as where roads get ripped up and rebuilt)?

Council response
The Council has made use of prefabricated materials in its designs in the context of Major Cycleway Route construction. It has used pre-fabricated materials within its construction roll out of the Major Cycleway Routes as part of its continual improvement processes. These included a section of the Nor'West Arc MCR on Ilam Road, and on the Central City Key cycleway. The prefabricated materials were installed onto the road carriageways to form the cycleways physical separation from adjacent live traffic lanes, and/or motor vehicle parking.

The prefabricated materials were cost efficient to purchase and install, requiring less road adaption to accommodate them; however, their performance proved to be very poor. In a short time they started requiring high levels of maintenance that proved to be continual and unacceptable, in regard to both cost and lowered cycleway safety levels. The materials cracked and broke away due to the normal rigours of operational impacts from motor vehicles. As such, for these types of roading environments we have adopted a more robust approach with materials that ensure better long term outcomes.

Wherever possible, we minimise the reconstruction of the existing road carriageways when constructing new facilities. We continue to look for effective and lifelong cost economics from materials and/or new installation methods as they come to the market.

You have the right to request the Ombudsman to review this decision. Complaints can be sent by email to [email address], by fax to (04) 471 2254, or by post to The Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.

Regards
Ella

Ella Sullivan
Official Information Advisor
Office of the Mayor and Chief Executive

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