City Mall has been officially turned into a shared zone by Christchurch City Council.
Then mall extends from the Cashel St intersection with Oxford Tce to the intersection with High St, and includes High St between Cashel and Hereford Sts.
Three new retractable safety bollards at the Hereford St end of Oxford Tce will stop vehicles accessing City Mall outside the permitted hours.
They will also go down when a tram approaches and rise when the tram has passed. Testing on the bollards will continue over the next few weeks.
"Cyclists and people on e-scooters can move freely around City Mall, but there is a 10km/h limit in place and they should give way to pedestrians," said council transport operations manager Steffan Thomas.
"This means that we now have consistent traffic rules in the pedestrian-friendly areas of Oxford Tce, Cashel St and High St, which will result in a safer environment for everyone."
Thomas said trams and emergency vehicles can use City Mall at all times.
However, new restrictions for goods vehicles accessing the mall mean they are only allowed in between 5am and 10am or 4pm to 5pm.
"Good vehicles obviously need to be able access the businesses in City Mall, but for safety reasons we don’t want them in the mall at times when there are lots of people around," said Thomas.
"In the early part of the morning, there aren’t as many people around so it is a good time to give them access.
"However, some businesses, particularly hospitality, need to get deliveries later in the day, which is why we are also allowing goods vehicle access between 4pm and 5pm," Thomas said.
