Key milestone on the horizon for arterial road
Queenstown's troubled arterial road project will reach a construction milestone this month, with the reopening of upper Suburb and Dublin Street.
Significant upgrades to underground services at the gateway to the new road are 90% complete, meaning the roads can reopen to traffic from Monday, 8 April (weather dependent).
“With over 1.8km of water supply, stormwater and wastewater pipe installed underground, the construction crew can now swap traffic over to the other side of Frankton Road to complete the final service upgrades in this area,” Queenstown Lakes District Council General Manager Property and Infrastructure Tony Avery says.
“Reopening the upper Suburb and Dublin Street intersections will reduce some of the pressure on the roading network. However swapping traffic over to the other side of Frankton Road does require the closure of lower Suburb Street until September 2024. This will allow the alliance to complete the remaining underground service upgrades in the area."
The Melbourne Street / Frankton Road intersection is also expected to reopen to traffic in mid-May, reducing the construction footprint of the project for the duration of works.
Two-way traffic and a 30km/h speed limit will continue along Frankton Road, between Suburb and Melbourne Street. The area is a live construction site so there may occasionally be changes to access – these changes will always be communicated well in advance, directly to neighbouring properties and via QLDC social media channels.
Avery acknowledges the ongoing disruption caused by this project and thanked businesses, residents and drivers for their patience over this challenging time.
“We know the noise and disruption to access has been particularly challenging for those along the Arterial Route. Our direction to the Kā Huanui a Tāhuna team is to mitigate this as much as possible as they work towards project completion at the end of this year."
Stage 1 of the Town Centre Arterial Road is expected to be open in December 2024.
The Arterial Road, stage 1 of which is partially funded by a $50m contribution by the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group (IRG) fund, is intended to remove traffic from Stanley Street, enable improved public transport facilities and improve accessibility to the town centre.
But the project has gone significantly over budget, with QLDC picking up the majority of the $128 million cost.
