The Western Belfast Bypass is an approximately , four lane,

grade separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

recently built to bypass the northern

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

suburb of

Belfast, New Zealand Belfast () is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is in the north of the city 10 km from Cathedral Square, close to the banks of the Waimakariri River. History Belfast is named after Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was originally ...

. It is estimated that its construction will result in 17,000 fewer vehicles using Main North Road through Belfast, and shorten travel times between the north and west of Christchurch. In addition, the motorway will allow for improved public transport, cycling, and pedestrian options on Main North Road. It is expected that 21,500 vehicles per day will use the WBB motorway by 2026. The speed limit along the route is 100 km/h.

Route

The motorway links directly from the

Christchurch Northern Motorway The Christchurch Northern Motorway is the main northern route into and out of Christchurch, New Zealand. The motorway forms part of (SH 1) and (SH 74). The motorway, which heads in a northerly direction, is approximately 16.5 km in length ...

, at Chaneys interchange, to Johns Road at the Clearwater roundabout, bypassing the current section of State Highway One through the Belfast urban area. It forms part of the Christchurch Western Corridor, which is one of the

Roads of National Significance Roads of National Significance (RoNS) was a name given by the 5th National Party Government, to a programme to speed up road construction in New Zealand between 2009 and 2017. RoNS were first announced on 20 March 2009 by Transport Minister, ...

projects previously announced by the Government in 2009.

Planning and construction

A northbound off-ramp and southbound on-ramp is provided at Groynes Road. The existing section of SH1 along Johns Road from The Groynes to Sawyers Arms Road is being upgraded to a four lane median divided highway, with restricted access intersections, as part of the Christchurch Western Corridor programme. The contract was awarded to Fulton Hogan. Construction began on May 8, 2015 with the first sod turned by Minister of Transport

Simon Bridges Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the to ...

, and was opened in stages in November 2017.

References

{{New Zealand motorway list Transport in Christchurch