Detailed design plans, presented to the board this week by Queenstown Lakes District Council capital works project manager Rob Darby, showed how mountable roundabouts and pedestrian refuges on Ardmore St, at the Lakeside Rd and Dungarvon St intersections, would look and function.
Mr Darby said a roundabout at the Ardmore St-Lakeside Rd intersection would significantly reduce delays for motorists during peak periods.
"On a peak day in the middle of summer, delays can be well over five minutes, [which would be] down to nine to 13 seconds with a roundabout," he said.
The design for the Ardmore St-Dungarvon St roundabout includes a new paved area outside the Ale House and Trout Bar and a fifth much larger traffic calming island - in keeping with the four existing smaller ones in lower Ardmore St - to enhance the link between Bridgeman Green and the lakefront reserve.
Mr Darby said the long-awaited roundabout at the Ardmore St-Brownston St intersection - also known as Caltex Corner - which has faced repeated delays, should be completed by Christmas. The ones at Dungarvon St and Lakeside Rd will be built in late summer.
Work on kerb realignments for the Brownston St-McDougall St and Brownston St-Dungarvon St intersections will begin next week.
However, further kerb extensions and refuges for Brownston St's intersections with Roche and Youghal Sts were not yet committed to and no further progress had been made on proposed car parking on the south side of Pembroke Park, which would have to go through public consultation.
Board chairman Lyal Cocks said the general public needed to be consulted on the upgrade design plans, along with adjacent property owners and business proprietors. He suggested holding a drop-in session to present the plans to the public alongside plans for street-scaping in upper Ardmore St, which include four new pedestrian crossing points and an avenue of 14 trees to be planted before next winter.
Mr Darby will report back to the board once the consultation phase is complete.
