Mayor frustrated by delays to traffic progress

QUEENSTOWN’S mayor has hit out at the NZ Transport Agency over Queenstown’s traffic woes, saying he is ‘‘frustrated’’ by the slow pace of progress.

He has also hinted at new infrastructure, including a dedicated cycling and walking bridge across the Shotover River and a new roundabout at Lake Hayes Estate.

Mayor Jim Boult faced tough questioning when he faced at a meeting organised by the Lake Hayes and Shotover Country Community Association last night.

Increasing traffic congestion was a major issue on the night, with many residents voicing their concerns over major backlogs.

Another hot topic was the recently revealed $100 million gondola, with developer Alastair Porter also addressing the crowd about his bigticket proposal.

Mr Boult told the crowd he was putting pressure on the NZTA to work on the congestion, part of which has been attributed to roadworks at the Quail Rise intersection.

But Mr Boult said he was ‘‘very frustrated’’ by how long it could take for decisions to be made.

‘‘Take the arterials to go round the downtown area — we’ve been working on that for ages, but getting a commitment is very, very difficult and it’s starting to frustrate me.’’

He said several ideas had been floated to ease the district’s traffic woes, including a cyclist/pedestrian bridge over the river and a new roundabout at Lake Hayes Estate.

He also said he was ‘‘terribly excited’’ by Mr Porter’s gondola proposal.

Mr Porter announced last week he had altered his tourist gondola proposal, which he first announced three years ago as a way to cart people from Remarkables Park to The Remarkables ski area.

He now wanted to include a station at Lake Hayes Estate, which would provide a commuter option.

Mr Porter told last night’s audience he believed it would go some way to mitigating traffic problems.