Parking tickets a double sting for business ‘struggling’ with stadium roadworks pinch

Thursday, 30 January 2025

Lichfield St businesses are struggling to attract customers during the upgrades to nearby roads around the stadium.

Businesses “struggling“ and ”putting on a brave face“ during ongoing roadworks for Christchurch’s new stadium feel doubly stung by the city council pinging staff with parking tickets after their on-street options disappeared.

Roadwork delays and reduced lanes are expected over the next six months as work continues to replace century-old water pipes and make above-ground changes before the new One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha opens in April 2026.

Motorists, businesses and pedestrians were warned in August to expect 18 months of disruption, with the bulk of the work expected to be finished by the middle of this year and minor aspects continuing until spring.

Navjot Singh, owner of Domino’s Pizza on Lichfield St, said he had been “really struggling” since the roadworks began. Business at his shop, opposite the stadium site, fell almost 50% from $20,000 a week in September to about $11,000 a week now.

Fortunately, the profits from his second store in Linwood were paying his personal bills.

“I’m trying to hang on, but if something happens out of my pocket I can’t survive.”

Losing parking space on Lichfield St was particularly frustrating, he said.

Delivery drivers and staff had been ticketed for briefly parking in a nearby alleyway; the fines were not waived after appeals and some Uber drivers had even refused to complete customers’ orders because they could not reach the store.

Business owners say they appreciate signs installed to let people know they are still open.

Christchurch City Council said it had a designated parking area for Lichfield St businesses off Huanui Lane to use for deliveries and customers, and parking on footpaths would not be allowed because it created congestion and safety hazards.

Head of transport and waste management Lynette Ellis said it was important that traffic flowed through the busy construction area smoothly and that this area was a part of the regular round for the parking compliance team because illegal parking had historically been an issue there.

Pot Sticker Dumpling Bar owner Jason Dodd questioned how long he could run at 50% less turnover when none of his expenses had halved.

Te Kaha related roadworks have already caused one Lichfield St business to close.

His frustration lay with the council allowing simultaneous roadworks in multiple streets, meaning his stretch of Lichfield St was “completely closed off”.

His Colombo St dumpling bar was keeping him afloat, but he said that could not last forever.

“Everyone on that block is terrified they’re not going to last,” Dodd said.

Gordon Harris manager Peter Smith said he was “putting on a brave face”, with 20% less business than this time last year due to lane closures and lost parking on Madras St.

Businesses on Lichfield St feel closed off from customers because of the roadworks.

The art supplies shop had reduced its stock intake and his sympathetic customers had all commented on the roadworks.

“We all know we have to go through it to get this glistening new stadium … for the betterment of the city and progress of the city.”

But Smith worried there would be a “hangover” effect, with people taking “a long time” to come back once the roadworks ended.

Black Betty Cafe manager Alisha Parata said sales had fallen since the roadworks began but they were “surviving” thanks to a loyal following of weekend customers.

A map showing where Te Kaha Surrounding Streets roadworks were in central Christchurch as at January 2025.

She was “a bit uneasy” about six more months of roadworks, but would keep asking the community to support small businesses.

That hope was echoed by Dux Central owner Richard Sinke. However, it was hard to gauge the roadworks’ impact due to the recession and cost of living pressure, he said.

“With regards to Lichfield St, they’ve done a nice job so far … and in a year’s time we’ll be sitting closer and closer to the new stadium.”

Dux Central was doing its best to inform customers about access and parking and called on them to “please continue supporting small business”.

Upcoming traffic impacts

Some landlords are confident more businesses will return to the area this year, but across the next six months the roadworks will require lane drops on Barbadoes St, Madras St, Tuam St, and Fitzgerald Ave, no-entry to Tuam St from Fitzgerald Ave, a one-way system on Lichfield St, and part of Ash St will be temporarily closed until March.

Traffic management will extend beyond Moorhouse Ave to the east side of Madras St. The left turn lane from Madras St onto St Asaph St will also close. From February, traffic management along Tuam St between Madras and Barbadoes streets will switch sides to prepare the southern footpath for new street light poles and footpath renewal.

Work sites have moved to the middle of the road after making “good progress” on the corners of Fitzgerald Ave and Lichfield St, according to Isaac Construction.