Issue #945

by Paul Taylor

The world’s longest traffic jam happened in Beijing, in 2010, extending 100km and lasting 12 days. Some drivers were stuck in their cars for five days. Now, I’m not suggesting Queenstown is about to have a ‘hold my beer’ moment, or that you should stock up on food, water and adult nappies before setting off on your commute, but it’s difficult to see how Waka Kotahi’s $115 million Queenstown NZ Upgrade programme doesn’t lead to total and utter traffic chaos.

The project, which now has the greenlight from planners, will remodel Frankton’s BP roundabout, the nearby bus station, replace the dangerous Ladies Mile turnoff to Lake Hayes Estate with a roundabout, and make various improvements along SH6, including 18 sets of traffic lights, to improve traffic flow, especially for buses, cyclists and pedestrians. That’s the goal, anyway. It will take the next FOUR years to complete. When you look at the fiasco that is the downtown arterial project, or the rush-hour gridlock a few years ago caused by the Quail Rise turn-off upgrade, it’s difficult to be optimistic about what’s coming. Both those projects were mainly off the highway, while NZUP will occupy Queenstown’s busiest stretches of road. Around 27,000 vehicles pass through the BP roundabout each day. All we can hope is that Waka Kotahi has more experience, and a much tighter leash for infrastructure contractors, than QLDC.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown will be in Frankton this Thursday to turn the first sod. I remember when National’s Simon Bridges turned the first sod for the Kawarau Falls bridge in 2016. In fact, he went one better and planted a tree. It died soon after, followed a few years later by Bridges’ political career. Fortunately the early demise of the kowhai, and Bridges, did not prove to be a harbinger for the Waka Kotahi project, which has been a practical and picturesque addition to our roading network. It was a little late and over budget, but only cost around $22m (which eight years later seems like an absolute steal). You could argue that’s what we need now, a replacement bridge, this time over the Shotover, especially with 2,400 ‘homes’ destined for Ladies Mile. But God knows how much that would cost. We could also do with a new Arthurs Point bridge but that’s not even State Highway, so locals could have to pick up much of the cost.

Even with those bridges though, we’ll always be chasing our tails over rush hour capacity. Look at Los Angeles and Beijing. More roads does not equal less traffic. So, projects that make public transport more attractive, or get more of us on to bikes, or taking fewer trips, are needed. It’s going to be bloody painful though. I reckon buying a boat might be the quickest way to do the school run for now.