Detailed designs for a single-lane roundabout at the intersection of Ardmore and Brownston Sts in Wanaka should be completed by the end of June, and construction is likely to begin sometime in the 2010-11 financial year.
The intersection would cost $609,370 to build but is the highest priority in the Queenstown Lakes District Council's three-stage, $12.3 million Ardmore-Brownston St project as it is part of the development of a new cross-town route along Brownston St.
The Wanaka Community Board recently approved stage one concept plans worth $2.7 million and gave feedback on the design details to infrastructure strategy manager Denis Mander.
Stage one also includes new turning pockets on Brownston St, the removal of some car parks from Brownston St to improve traffic flow, and pedestrian crossings on upper and lower Ardmore St and on Brownston St.
The overall project will result in changes to Wanaka's two main streets in the next 15 years.
The $2.2 million stage two includes changes to upper Ardmore St and upgrades to the Lakeside Dr-Ardmore St intersection.
A redesign of lower Ardmore St and the lakeside reserve is a long-term priority in the $7.2 million stage three, scheduled for 2016-26.
The public has been consulted and 40 submissions were received.
Several landowners and businesses face changes to access and have been consulted.
They are the Caltex petrol station, various tenants in the McKenzie and Willis building, Inland Auto, Ashraf's Indian and Kashmiri Restaurant and the Alpine Motel.
Mr Mander said there was broad agreement among the affected parties that the roundabout option was preferable, even though it presented challenges to access.
Some submissions have questioned if a single-lane roundabout would cope with the traffic.
Mr Mander said it would not fail projected traffic volumes until 2034.
Failure would be queues of between 30 and 70 vehicles on all approaches, causing long delays on Ardmore St.
A bigger roundabout could create higher speeds and longer pedestrian crossings, would require more land, create greater access difficulties for adjoining properties and present problems for cyclists, Mr Mander said.
