After six months of negotiation, urgency has been called for to resolve the Frankton Flats land-swap agreement.
The agreement would pave the way for a roundabout to alleviate the worst traffic-accident black spot in the Queenstown Lakes district.
During the public forum of the monthly council meeting on Tuesday, Remarkables Park Ltd co-director Alastair Porter urged district councillors to settle the land-swap agreement, saying the intersection of State Highway 6 and Glenda Dr was "very dangerous and sooner or later, someone is going to get killed".
The proposed roundabout and the first section of the proposed eastern access road, to run around the Queenstown Airport runway and link to Remarkables Park, could be completed by Christmas if worked started now, he said.
When the Frankton Flats issue came up during the council meeting, Mayor Vanessa van Uden said the land-swap agreement betweenit and both Remarkables Park and Shotover Park was needed, along with a funding decision from the National Land Transport Fund, administered by the New Zealand Transport Agency, and land acquisition.
Council transport manager Denis Mander tabled a report that said a "significant imbalance" had been created by Remarkables Park and Shotover Park's proposal the council accept more land than it gave up, which resulted in the two parties being compensated by almost $900,000, instead of the swap being "cost neutral" to the council.
The imbalance was why the matter had been brought back to the council table, Mr Mander said.
Councillors will now form a subcommittee with delegated authority to "continue and conclude" negotiations on the land-swap agreement.
The draft Otago Regional Land Transport Programme by the Otago Regional Council's regional transport committee suggested Frankton Flats roading be recommended for funding from the National Land Transport Fund.
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 tabled improvements that would cost more than $3 million each during the three-year period of the programme.
The eastern access road was set for $610,000 in 2012 to 2015, but would be finished later, for a total cost of $9 million.
The National Land Transport Fund, including Queenstown and Otago projects, was expected to be announced in August.
