Residents welcome road project

THE decision to greenlight a $6 million project to improve safety at a notorious intersection near Queenstown has drawn praise from locals.

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has announced the right turn out of Tucker Beach Rd on to State Highway 6 will be replaced with a slip road, accessed via the existing road under the Shotover River Bridge.

Director, regional relationships, Jim Harland said at the same time, water and wastewater services would be laid in the highway as part of the future infrastructure to support the further development of Quail Rise.

The construction work will be tendered this week, with the aim of having the slip road operational by Christmas.

The total project is estimated to cost about $6 million, which includes $1.6 million from Queenstown Lakes District Council for its infrastructure work.

Quail Rise residents’ spokeswoman Kerry Dunlop said people were ‘‘delighted’’ the work was going ahead after many years of growing traffic and increasing difficulty turning out of Tucker Beach Rd.

‘‘The underpass and slip road will dramatically reduce the risk of injury or death for cyclists, car and bus commuters.’’

Mr Boult said the decision took longer than he would have liked, but he was pleased with the end result.

During the local body election campaign in October 2016, the intersection had been raised as an issue of great concern to residents, he said.

‘‘The new council engaged with the Transport Agency to have this treated as a priority project in late 2016.

‘‘Subsequent growth of traffic volumes, and unfortunately a number of accidents at the corner, have continued to focus the council on working with the Transport Agency to reach a solution.’’

He praised NZTA for giving the project the tick of approval.