The four-year project, the centrepiece of which is a signalled intersection to replace the Frankton roundabout, has entered its 19th month.
NZTA infrastructure regional manager Sean Walsh says the bulk of the underground work on power, water and stormwater connections has been completed, and work on shaping the Frankton Golf Centre side of the new intersection - and along the highway to Joe O’Connell Dr - is well advanced.
The project team is laying asphalt on the golf centre side of the roundabout, a process that’s expected to continue until March, Walsh says.
Traffic will then be moved on to the newly-sealed and marked road so construction can start on the BP station side of the intersection.
The upgrade includes the installation of traffic lights at the intersections of the highway with Hansen Rd and Joe O’Connell Dr - the latter to ease entry and exit at the Queenstown Events Centre.
The project’s aimed at easing the junction’s often chronic congestion - more than 40,000 vehicles pass through it each day at peak times.
Meanwhile, work to double the size of the Frankton bus hub’s also under way.
Its southern section is being built first, with retaining walls completed and work on the shelter’s foundations started.
When that section is completed, passengers and buses will use that zone while the northern section is built.
At the end of this month, the bus stop on the golf centre side of Kawarau Rd will be moved, overnight, back to its permanent position opposite the bus hub.
Meanwhile, prep work for building a roundabout at the intersection of the highway and Howards Dr - easing entry and exit for Lake Hayes Estate and Shotover Country traffic - is expected to start by the end of the year, Walsh says.
