MP foresees second upgrade for roundabout

Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay believes a second upgrade for a bottleneck roundabout will be part of a project to ease Queenstown traffic.

Frankton's small ''BP'' roundabout is a major pinch point in the road network.

The NZ Transport Agency is just about to finish a $1.36 million upgrade, adding a second exit lane towards Queenstown town centre.

But Mr Barclay has now successfully petitioned the NZTA to bring forward the four-laning of State Highway 6 from the roundabout to the new two-lane Kawarau Falls Bridge and also to Five Mile shopping centre.

He expects more work on the roundabout itself in the future.

''The changes about to be completed were always intended to be a bit of a short-term solution to help alleviate some of the pressure,'' Mr Barclay said.

''But I believe their intention medium term is a more efficient intersection at that end.

''They haven't said to me what that's going to look like yet though; they're still trying to figure it out.''

An engineer's drawing showing a Frankton roundabout about three times larger than the existing one was seen by community groups before the current upgrade programme began.

It took in scrubland by Frankton Golf Centre.

But NZTA spokesman Andy Knackstedt said the design had been superseded by the smaller upgrade design.

Mr Barclay met with NZTA regional director (southern) Jim Harland and transport planning manager Tony Sizemore in the resort on Friday to discuss the four-laning project.

The road is congested at rush-hour and drivers using the airport park their cars for free along one stretch of it.

Queenstown's Mayor Jim Boult also met them separately on Friday.

Both men said the meetings were just a ''catch-up'' on the project, which was now expected to begin in 2018 rather than sometime in the next decade.

However, Mr Barclay did get a face-to-face commitment on the earlier start date.

''It was good to reaffirm it directly.''

He also requested they include the Ministry of Education in planning discussions. The road is a route to the new Wakatipu High School which opens in January 2018.