NZ Transport Agency on Friday called for expressions of interest to build a new bridge over the Kawarau River.
It will replace the ramshackle one-lane bridge, which often leads to traffic jams on the State Highway 6 route into the resort.
The tender document confirms walkers and cyclists will have a choice of ways to cross the river once the project is complete.
Refurbishing the deck of the existing bridge and connecting it to the Queenstown Trail is part of the project.
The new bridge will also have a sealed shoulder for road cyclists and a footpath, concessions by the New Zealand Transport Agency to the Otago Regional Council after it threatened legal action over the original designs.
''In addition to bridge construction, the works will involve widening the existing state highway approaches and connecting existing off-road walking and cycling routes to the new and existing bridges,'' the document reads.
''Some refurbishment of the existing bridge deck is required and requires an authority from Heritage New Zealand.''
But there is no suggestion as to which body will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the 1926 bridge and dam structure.
The bridge is owned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which was in discussions with the Queenstown Lakes District Council over its future.
The new bridge has been fast-tracked, as promised by Prime Minister John Key in an election pledge in June.
The specimen design is for a 250m-long and 14m-wide construction in a graceful horizontal curve.
Guardrails will be used that maximise the view of the river for people crossing the bridge.
The new bridge will be immediately downstream from the existing bridge and is designed using steel beams between piers 45m apart.
The composite steel and concrete design means the bridge can be built more quickly and is expected to cost $2 million less than a concrete box bridge design.
The tender period will begin in January and the contract will probably be awarded in June.
Work is expected to start in late 2015 and the new bridge to open in early 2017.
