Roundabouts, fourlaning work likely to start in 2020

THE planned improvements to a stretch of State Highway 6 between the new Kawarau Falls Bridge and Grant Rd in Queenstown are likely to take two years to complete.

At a public meeting on Wednesday night, NZ Transport Agency senior project manager Phil Dowsett told the Frankton Community Association the estimated total cost was about $30 million.

He told the Otago Daily Times yesterday it was not realistic for that amount to be spent in a single year, so the work — which could start at the end of 2020 — would likely be spread over two years.

A key aspect of the project was the existing BP roundabout.

Mr Dowsett told the ODT there were three options in play at present — a roundabout, a signalised roundabout, or traffic lights.

The latter, however, was unlikely to be effective longterm.

‘‘While we can make it work initially, as traffic grows . . . it will stop working efficiently, so we’re unlikely to just go for [that].’’

Both a roundabout and a signalised roundabout would require some land presently used by the Frankton Golf Course, but the agency was looking at using ‘‘an absolute minimum’’ of that if the preferred option was for a ‘‘signalised’’ roundabout.

While not widely used in New Zealand, they worked effectively overseas and enabled the traffic flow to be controlled, Mr Dowsett said.

If the preferred option was for a larger roundabout, ‘‘a lot’’ of the project could be constructed off the state highway, meaning there would be little disruption to traffic initially and then work would be sequenced to minimise the impact on traffic.

Other work included fourlaning of the State Highway between Grant Rd and Queenstown Airport; improvements to the intersection of the State Highway with the Queenstown Events Centre and Hansen Rd, where a ‘‘controlled intersection’’ may be used; and an upgrade to the existing Frankton bus hub to provide better shelters, connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists and improve circulation.

‘‘There are also other concerns with Humphrey St and Southberg Ave.

‘‘Those are less difficult to address, so we’re setting them to one side, for the moment,’’ Mr Dowsett said.

Longterm, passenger transport was the ‘‘absolute key’’ to alleviating pressure on the resort’s roads.

At Wednesday’s meeting, WSPOpus transportation work group manager Reece Gibson said establishing a park and ride facility at Frankton had been ruled out because there was little point bringing vehicles along Kawarau Rd or FranktonLadies Mile to park their cars.

Mr Dowsett said the park and ride issue was more a matter for the Queenstown Lakes and Otago Regional councils.

‘‘[It’s] one a lot of work’s got to be done on.

‘‘We certainly support the principle, but it’s got to be in the right place.’’

NZTA would meet key stakeholders, including the Queenstown Lakes District Council, Otago Regional Council, Queenstown Airport and NZSki, on March 12 to determine the preferred option before that went out for community feedback, likely to be at the end of the month.