The Queenstown Town Centre Arterial Road (stage1) will reach a construction milestone this month, with the reopening of upper Suburb and Dublin Street.
Queenstown Lakes District Council General Manager Property and Infrastructure, Tony Avery said significant upgrades to underground services at the gateway to the new road are 90% complete, meaning upper Suburb and Dublin Street can reopen to traffic from Monday 8 April (weather dependent).
“With over 1.8km of water supply, stormwater and wastewater pipe installed underground, the construction crew can now swap traffic over to the other side of Frankton Road to complete the final service upgrades in this area,” he said.
“Reopening the upper Suburb and Dublin Street intersections will reduce some of the pressure on the roading network. However swapping traffic over to the other side of Frankton Road does require the closure of lower Suburb Street until September 2024. This will allow the alliance to complete the remaining underground service upgrades in the area.”
In a further milestone, the Melbourne Street / Frankton Road intersection is also expected to reopen to traffic in mid-May, reducing the construction footprint of the project for the duration of works.
Stage 1 of the Town Centre Arterial Road is expected to be open in December 2024.
The Arterial Road, stage 1 of which is partially funded by a $50m contribution by the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group (IRG) fund, is intended to remove traffic from Stanley Street, enable improved public transport facilities and improve accessibility to the town centre.