Bridge site won’t change

A Queenstown lobby group is in disbelief after news the New Zealand Transport Agency will not support a call to change the proposed site of the Kawarau Falls Bridge upgrade in Frankton. The Queenstown Lakes District Council asked for a a fresh transport modelling assessment to consider building the bridge between Boyd Rd and the Eastern Access Rd to address community concerns. However, the NZTA assessment found the site chosen for the new two-lane bridge, next to the existing bridge, was the best location for it. Agency Southern regional director Jim Harland said ‘‘the assessment confirms the selected location for the bridge would best address current and future needs. ‘‘This assessment shows that in the short to medium term, the preference for the majority of vehicles on State Highway (6) south of the Kawarau River is to use the current designated bridge crossing point.’’ Harland said if existing development levels continued or accelerated within the Wakatipu Basin, then a long-term provision needed to be made for a second bridge over the Kawarau River, a finding that was consistent with the Wakatipu Transportation Strategy from 2007. ‘‘The Transport Agency will work with QLDC to identify what must be done to enable a second crossing point of the Kawarau River in the longer term,’’ he said. However, Hudson Turnbull, cofounder of a group of residents who supported moving the bridge to the Boyd Rd location, said their proposal already included two bridges to ease traffic issues. ‘‘If it’s taken us 100 years to get one bridge, how long will it take to get the other.’’ Turnbull said the agency refused to speak to the group about the proposal and believed they missed key points to consider during the assessment. ‘‘They are so determined to go ahead with what they have planned,’’ he said. The agency was ‘‘completely wrong’’ saying the bulk of traffic went to Queenstown after crossing the bridge. The group believed the bulk of the traffic turned towards Lake Hayes Estate once arriving at the Frankton roundabout. That traffic observation alone had a ‘‘major impact’’ on any transport modelling the agency did.