A bypass plan for Queenstown first proposed in 2005 has been resurrected and earmarked for almost $1.4 million of expenditure over the next three years, in the draft Otago Regional Land Transport Programme.
Residents have until Friday to lodge submissions on the roading programme, called for by the Otago Regional Council's regional transport committee and proposed to be recommended for funding from the National Land Transport Fund, administered by the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Three of the four major roading projects proposed to begin in 2012-15 involved major changes to the road network in Queenstown.
Stage one of "Queenstown Inner Links" was set for $1.1 million in the draft plan's three-year span, with an eventual total cost of $10.6 million.
Stage two was set for $285,782 over the three-year period, with a mooted total cost of $26.6 million.
Queenstown Lakes District Council transport manager Denis Mander said, when asked to comment, the design projects for the peripheral route around the resort centre appeared in the district council's long-term plan in a parallel process.
"What we're envisaging in the first three years of the 10 years is to advance the design for the Melbourne-Henry [Sts] link, the first stage of the inner link, so if you're coming down Frankton Rd, the idea would be you'dbe able to turn to MelbourneSt, carry on through to HenrySt - so there's a missing link there - then carry on to the Gorge Rd area, rather than truck down Stanley St."
Mr Mander said construction of the route was programmed towards the end of the 10-year period. Project evaluations would be ready in five to six years' time and risks would be managed by advancing the design, he said.
Stage two involved construction and the key decision to be made on which route the stage would take.
"The link is between Henry St and Man St and the options were from Henry St, turn into Gorge Rd up to Boundary St and build Boundary St through up to Robins Rd and down.
"The other option is a more direct route, effectively cutting a line from Henry St across to Memorial St and on. The council needs to make a decision on which option it wishes to pursue and there needs to be a large amount of evaluation and discussion with the community before that's resolved."
The $3.4 million Frankton Flats Road Project 2, or the link between the proposed State Highway 6 roundabout and Glenda Dr, was one of five of the proposed improvements which would cost more than $3 million each during the three-year period. The appearance of the project in the draft plan was a carry forward from this year to next, Mr Mander said.
"What has been proposed has largely been driven by safety. It's critical we get the location and design right, because that intersection with the state highway sets the alignment for the arterial which goes into the Frankton Flats and around the airport, so it's quite a strategic link and that's why there's been so much landowner interest in it."
The Queenstown eastern access road was set for $610,000 in 2012 to 2015, but would be finished later, for a total cost $9 million.
The transport committee will hear submissions, at yet to be determined venues, during the week ending May 14. It will then prepare a final programme which it will recommend to the regional council.
The council forwards the final programme to the transport agency for a decision on whether any of the recommended projects should be funded.
The agency's National Land Transport Fund, including Otago projects to be funded, was expected to be published in August.
"We are effectively competing with every other region for funding," Mr Mander said.
"Nevertheless, we've got a significant road network to maintain that will continue to grow."
