Out of the questions, 38 were about roads and roading
issues, while 36 were about the rebuild.
The rest were about recycling, the environment, city
maintenance, artworks in the city, transport, carparking, and buses.
Several people asked about right-turning signals at
Christchurch intersections.
"I've been wondering for some time why there are so
many light-controlled intersections that don't accommodate the traffic trying
to turn right over the multiple lanes of oncoming traffic," said Karen,
who withheld her surname.
"An example is the roadworks on Carmen Rd, where lanes
are blocked in the centre of the road, forcing two lanes of traffic into one as
they approach the lights. The upshot of this is if you are turning you cannot
get a break in the traffic, forcing you to utilise the yellow and red lights.
Why can't we have turning signals on these very busy intersections?"
However, there is no ready answer for this question, as the
Christchurch City Council has a procedure for investigating whether
right-turning signals are needed.
With rebuild questions, readers were concerned with the
fates of structures and facilities they were familiar with.
Several asked about AMI Stadium - both old and new - and
when rubble will be removed from the old Sydenham Heritage Church site.
Heritage buildings like the old Provincial Council Chambers
and the Majestic Theatre on Manchester St also attracted questions about their
fates.
"Every time I drive past the sad remains of the
Provincial Council building on the corner of Durham and Gloucester streets, I
wonder whether any of the beautiful hand-painted ceiling in the main building
survived enough to be rescued," asked S Shaw.
The reader would be happy to know the council has said most
of the stencilled ridge and furrow ceiling had been retrieved, along with the
chamber's stone corbels, many undamaged, and fragments of the stained glass.
Examples of questions that have not yet found answers:
"Is there anywhere in the city that recycles the clean
plastic wrapping from The Press? I have
been unsuccessful with my inquiries. It cannot go into the yellow bin and it is
not good putting it into the landfill."
"Could you give us some explanation for the severe
erosion of the sandhills north of the Waimairi Beach Surf Club? We have lived
in this area now for 16 years, each winter we get storms that take bites out of
the sandhills; they soon recover; but I have never before seen the dunes
disappearing at the present rate. Has the local seabed shifted with the
earthquakes off the coast or are there some other reasons?"
"Since the installation of the stretch [of new
footpaths] outside the newly built shops on the corner of Westminster and
Cranford Sts, I've seen two people tumble on to the road from the steep camber
of the sidewalk. I think there's a serious accident waiting to happen to the
less agile, aged or very young, or visually impaired. Can you please suss out
the rational behind this departure from the flat, hazard-free footpaths we've
had forever?"
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