Highway at BP roundabout to close overnight from Sunday

Plan ahead, nighttime closures of key roads at the roundabout adjacent to the BP station in Frankton are coming as construction work continues on a $250 million roading project.

From this Sunday (August 11) the New Zealand Transport Agency and its alliance partners in Kā Huanui a Tāhuna will be closing sections of the intersection overnight to work on underground services.

Each section will close between 10pm and 6am for approximately ten nights, with the closures expected to conclude by mid-September.

Work crews have set up offices near Frankton's BP roundabout, creating a new access road to the golf course (Image/NZTA).

NZTA director of regional relationships James Caygill says the closures will enable key utilities to be layered into 16 trenches - as deep as five-and-half metres - running under the highway.

“The roundabout is the intersection of every critical service that helps nearly half of Queenstown’s population function - like stormwater, water supply, electricity, gas, and telecommunications,” Mr Caygill says.

The work is part of a wider project aimed at changing the busy roundabout, a main access point to the Queenstown CBD, to a traffic light controlled intersection and expanding the Frankton Bus Hub.

Mr Caygill says night work is necessary.

“We have to work at night due to the high daytime traffic volumes - up to 42,000 vehicles per day at the busiest times of year. Given the restrictions on the state highway, it’s not possible to close the road during the day.

“We considered a partial or stop-go closure, but it was ruled out as traffic modelling showed vehicles would move quicker via the proposed detour. A full closure on each section of the state highways means works can be completed more quickly – rather than multiple partial closures over an extended period.”

Detour signs will direct traffic around Queenstown Airport in both directions, with the detour expected to take drivers about six minutes.

Access for emergency services and residents will remain, and they will be escorted through the site by crews.

The Frankton Bus Hub will remain operational, although some bus routes will use the detour, and access to the Queenstown Events Centre will be maintained during its opening hours.

“We thank everyone who will need to take the detour for their patience getting this essential, important piece of work completed,” Mr Caygill says.

In April Minister for Transport Simeon Brown turned the first sod to begin construction works related to the project, announcing his government was committing $250 million to it, up from the $113 million first budgeted.

However a report subsequently released to Crux in response to a request for official information revealed despite the extra spend Queenstown commuters will receive less.

While the price tag may have more than doubled, the scope of work has been reduced.

Catching the bus? Full bus route information during the closures is available at orc.govt.nz/orbusqt and www.orc.govt.nz/QTdetours.