A week after Queenstown resident Guy Hughes claimed the resort had reached “tipping point”, Mayor John Glover has decided it is time to take matters into his own hands. In the face of severe congestion — at present, it is taking about 90 minutes to travel between the southern corridor and Queenstown at peak times — Mr Glover has announced he is forming a mayoral taskforce to look at the Wakatipu’s transport network, including “practical actions”, faster delivery of any initiatives included in the Otago Central Lakes regional deal, and development of innovative long-term solutions. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) system design regional manager Richard Osborne told the Otago Daily Times last Saturday the agency was preparing a “Strategic Network Plan” for Queenstown to identify a 30-year programme of “interventions” to address capacity issues caused by growth. But any recommended changes would be subject to “funding and prioritisation” in future cycles of the National Land Transport Programme. Mr Glover said in a statement on Friday the community expected the council to “show leadership, rather than wait for someone to do something, so we are responding to that”. “Queenstown’s transport woes have been in the media since the 1970s. “But right now, we are seeing our future played out at peak times when the networks reach a tipping point, and any exacerbator is causing it to fail.” [Missing Credit]Queenstown Lakes Mayor John Glover is forming a Mayoral Taskforce to deal with the Wakatipu’s failing transport network. Photo: Archive He said modelling indicated even if every currently identified intervention was delivered in the Basin, “Queenstown’s transport network still fails”. “Overall, the response comes too little, too late. “Continuing to plan within the existing framework is, therefore, not enough.” Mr Glover said the biggest risk for the district was spending another 30 years “debating which road to build first”, while congestion, accessibility and productivity steadily worsened. “We must act now, implement faster and think differently.” The new taskforce was expected to comprise elected representatives from local councils and government, businesses, mana whenua, active transport advocates, urban designers, traffic engineers and “financial expertise” — others were expected to become involved through the process — and would spend three to six months working on agreed objectives. More details would be released next week. tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz
