After about four years of litigation and negotiation, the first sod was finally turned at Frankton Flats signalling the beginning of the $22 million eastern access road — formally called Hawthorne Dr.
On completion, the road will link Remarkables Park to State Highway 6 via the rear of Queenstown Airport and Glenda Dr.
The first stage — from Remarkables Park to Glenda Dr — will be completed by winter next year. The second stage, linking to a roundabout near Pak’n Save, which opened yesterday, is planned to be open by the end of next year.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said yesterday’s ceremony, which included a blessing by Ngai Tahu kaumatua Michael Skerrett, was a credit to the previous council.
"It’s no exaggeration to say that Hawthorne Dr is the district’s most highly anticipated development in many years," Mr Boult said.
"I can’t wait to see it done."
Issues around the resort’s infrastructure coping in the face of sustained growth across all sectors had been well documented, he said.
The district’s annual growth rate over the past 12 months was 7.1%, compared with the national average of 2.1%, while transport figures showed movements in the area were growing at 10% per annum.
Mr Boult compared that to Tauranga — Transport Minister Simon Bridge’s home town — where transport growth was 3% per annum.‘‘It shows you the sort of issues we’re facing here.
"We are an area with enormous growth going forward. Most of the country would ... say they envy us because our problems are about growth, but that does bring with it an enormous time pressure to get things done."
Mr Bridges said the extension to Hawthorne Dr was a "great collaboration" between the Government, through the New Zealand Transport Agency, and the council. The Government was acutely aware of the issues the district faced and was "on top of them", he said.
Remarkables Park Ltd developer Alistair Porter, who has long lobbied for the fast-tracking of the road, said the company was ‘‘absolutely delighted’’ to see its construction finally under way.
"It’s going to achieve a lot of things ... it’s going to enable congestion to be eased on the state highway and at the BP corner, but it’s also going to be a tremendous catalyst for growth."
However, he believed ultimately the arterial road "absolutely" needed to connect with the state highway at either Humphrey St or Robertson St at Frankton.
"Then this road would really be a bypass."
