A second plan to lift Queenstown people out of traffic gridlock gained momentum this week.
Southern Infrastructure Ltd’s proposal to build a $400 million gondola between the town centre and Frankton was endorsed by the Infrastructure Commission (Infracom) as a priority project on Wednesday.
Rival Whoosh had pitched its on-demand Queenstown-wide cable car network to Queenstown Lakes district councillors only the day before.
Whoosh chief executive Chris Allington said Infracom’s subsequent endorsement of Southern Infrastructure’s project was recognition ‘‘something needs to happen’’ to address the town’s chronic traffic congestion.
‘‘I think we all acknowledge there's a problem in Queenstown, and that to get people off the roads, they need a viable alternative.’’
He congratulated the other company, though he and Whoosh chairman Peter Crabtree have acknowledged the gondola could make the development of a Whoosh network ‘‘commercially unviable’’.
Southern Infrastructure chief executive Ross Copland said Infracom’s formal endorsement of the Queenstown Cable Car project would give confidence to central and local government the proposal was a ‘‘logical and urgent next step for our transport network’’.
Backed by venture philanthropist Rod Drury, the company wants to build a high-capacity gondola extending from the town centre to Frankton and Queenstown Airport.
It applied to the Ministry for the Environment on October 31 for the proposal to be referred under fast-track approvals legislation.
The gondola could move 3000 passengers an hour each way in 10-seater cabins.
Mr Copland said it had received tenders from ropeway companies Doppelmayr and Leitner, and would announce its preferred supplier for the first stage of the project before Christmas.
Subject to planning approvals, construction could take place in 2027-28 and it could starting operating in 2029.
Frankton Rd was one of the busiest single-carriageway roads in the country, and Queenstown’s geography and high land prices made the expansion of roads or the construction of dedicated bus lanes costly and slow, he said.
‘‘The Queenstown Cable Car delivers many times the bus network capacity at a capital cost similar to the BP intersection upgrades, in about half the time.’’
Dr Allington and Mr Crabtree told councillors Whoosh would be much more effective at getting people out of their cars than a gondola or an enhanced public bus network.
Although technically the rival systems could co-exist, a gondola operating between the town centre and airport could make the development of a Whoosh network ‘‘commercially unviable’’.
Dr Allington told the Otago Daily Times Southern Infrastructure had chosen a gondola because it was a proven technology and construction could start sooner.
However, Whoosh was moving ahead quickly with its development.
It planned to have a test track operating in Christchurch by April and a demo system running at Queenstown’s Remarkables Park by 2027.
Its first full-scale system was expected to be operating in California in 2028.
‘‘We could have a system building and growing across Queenstown in that 2028-2029 timeframe, which is about the same timeframe [Southern Infrastructure] are talking about for completion.
‘‘We definitely can't start as soon as they can, but we might be able to finish as quickly as they can.’’
