The agency has applied to the Queenstown Lakes District Council for an alteration to a designation to make improvements to the intersection and alignment of just over 1.5km of road at the State Highway 6-Boyd Rd intersection, between The Remarkables skifield access road and Kelvin Heights.
The total land area affected is just over 2.6ha.
The application said the proposed realignment options would replace the existing "out of context" right-angle curves with sweeping reverse curves.
The curves - one which had a recommended speed limit of 55kmh and the other 65kmh - had contributed to a "significant number" of crashes in the past 10 years, usually resulting from driver loss of control.
The crash analysis showed there had been 10 recorded accidents from August 1999 to July 2009.
Seven of the recorded accidents occurred on or within 50m of the Boyd Rd corner.
"The cost to society for these accidents is calculated using an accident-by-accident analysis.
"For the present state highway alignment, the social cost for these accidents is $1,389,242 per year."
The proposed realignment will remove the two curves that have contributed to all the accidents on record and, therefore, a significant reduction in the number of accidents is anticipated.
"For this reason, accident rate analysis has been used to determine the costs following realignment and is calculated at $145,048 per year."
The new road alignment would provide a safer driving environment for road users by removing the curves; improve passing opportunities and reduce travel times; plus improve the intersection with The Remarkables skifield access road which had a high demand during the ski season.
The option also allowed the rationalisation of the Boyd Rd intersection by including it with the skifield access, thereby removing an extra intersection on the state highway.
The proposed works would see 1.33km of state highway carriageway realigned, providing a 210m reduction in the length of the existing alignment.
The radiuses of the two tight curves would be increased to achieve one 225m radius curve and one 300m radius curve.
The seal width would also be increased to 10m to provide two 3.5m lanes and two 1.5m shoulders, and a new intersection would be constructed, including a right-turn bay, to serve The Remarkables.
Another new intersection would be constructed to serve Boyd Rd, with a third intersection constructed to serve the property at the north end of the realignment.
The public has until November 12 to make submissions on the proposal.
