The project is expected to cost $3.2 million.
This includes the cost of design work for another intersection upgrade in the township.
District council asset manager transportation Andrew Mazey said 11,000 vehicles a day travel across the intersection at Lowes Rd and Tennyson St.
The lights will help to ease congestion and improve safety at the intersection, he said.
“It also has high pedestrian demand, therefore, signalised crossing points will be installed as well. Multiple traffic lanes will be constructed to allow for through and turning traffic as well as on-road cycle lanes and shared cycle and pedestrian ways around the intersection,” he said.
The work is a part of a project to upgrade three major intersections in Rolleston.
For the project to go ahead, funding has been transferred from one of the other upgrades due to a $2.5 million shortfall.
The roundabout at the intersection of Rolleston Drive and Tennyson St was planned to be removed and replaced with traffic lights also.
The project was set down in the district council’s 2018-28 Long Term Plan and was expected to be completed in the 2020/21 financial year.
The work was expected to be completed alongside the Lowes Rd and Tennyson St upgrade and an extension of Markham Drive with the installation of traffic lights at Dryden Ave.
Mr Mazey said detailed designs have been completed and construction cost estimates have been determined for each of the projects.
“It became apparent through detailed construction cost estimates produced for each of the projects, that there is an estimated $2.5 million funding shortfall if all three projects were sought to be constructed at the same time,” he said.
A budget of $2 million was initially set down for the upgrades at the Rolleston Drive and Tennyson St intersection but the estimated cost came out at $2.7 million.
A total of $2.1 million was budgeted for the Markham Way work but the estimated cost has incresaed by $500,000.
The work at the intersection of Lowes Rd and Tennyson St had a budget of $1.9 million but came out at an estimated cost of $3.2 million.
Mr Mazey said the estimates were more costly due to changes from the original plans.
At the meeting last week, district councillors voted unanimously to rescind funding for the Rolleston Drive and Tennyson St work.
This means the project was removed from the LTP and funding will be considered in the next Annual Plan or LTP process.
District councillors approved the budgets for the Tennyson St intersections work be combined to a total of $3.87 million, which is enough to fund the $3.2 million Lowes Rd and Tennyson St project.
The remaining $670,000 will be used to fund the current $458,000 deficit for the Markham Way project.
The two projects that will now go ahead are due to be completed in the 2019/2020 financial year.
