42 | Project improves Queenstown commute Delivered by an alliance of Queenstown Lakes District Council, New Zealand Transport Agency, and four design and construction companies – Beca, WSP, Downer New Zealand, and Fulton Hogan – the project has provided a critical new link between Frankton and Gorge roads. INFRASTRUCTURE Wakatipu Transport Alliance T T Kim Bowden “Traffic still builds up at peak times, but Stanley Street is lighter, and people now have that alternative route across town.” The first stage of Queenstown’s arterial road is open, marking the completion of one of the resort town’s most complex infrastructure projects to date. Delivered by an alliance of Queenstown Lakes District Council, New Zealand Transport Agency, and four design and construction companies – Beca, WSP, Downer New Zealand, and Fulton Hogan – the $128 million project has provided a critical new link between Frankton and Gorge roads. Alliance programme manager Edward Husband says the road was intended to divert traffic off the “heavily congested” Stanley Street – one of the lakeside town’s main thoroughfares. “You could see the impact immediately when it opened,” Edward says. “Traffic still builds up at peak times, but Stanley Street is lighter, and people now have that alternative route across town.” What drivers see today is only part of the story. Behind the scenes, stage 1 of the arterial project also delivered a full renewal of the area’s underground utilities – water, wastewater, stormwater, and telecommunications, as well as future-proofing capacity for a more resilient power supply. “In many ways the biggest wins are underground and can’t be seen,” Edward says. “We were effectively renovating old infrastructure while keeping the town moving.” That meant balancing progress with access for hotels, homes, and even a school along the transport corridor during the four-year build. The Covid-19 pandemic provided both an opportunity and a complication: fewer tourists, but higher pressure on local businesses to capture those customers that were in town. “You can’t just run night shifts outside accommodation providers; people don’t come to Queenstown to lie awake listening to roadworks,” Edward says. The alliance employed a dedicated communications team to work business-by-business through the disruption. The most challenging section involved carving a new link between Melbourne and Henry streets, cutting into steep hillside terrain and holding it back with a sequence of major retaining walls. These retaining walls have become a defining feature, with their structural elements faced with large precast panels – some soaring six metres high – etched with cultural manifestations designed in partnership with mana whenua. While the alliance supplied the structure, mana whenua designer Keri Whaitiri and musician Marlon Williams formed the cultural design, which narrates a Ngāi Tahu worldview of the Wakatipu Basin. Meanwhile, at street level, schist stone walls supplied by local company Dragonstone are a nod to inland Otago’s European heritage. Edward describes the alliance contract as “a way of managing risk” in a highly constrained, urban environment. Unknown underground utilities, steep geotechnical conditions, and multiple stakeholders all threatened to stall progress. “The commercial model allows work to keep progressing when there are challenges,” he says. “Everyone – owner, contractor, designer – remains focused on minimising cost while still making decisions and moving forward.” The completed link between Frankton and Gorge roads is the first of three stages, with the benefits of the arterial road to be fully realised once the network expands. With stage 1 complete, the alliance has shifted focus from the town centre to Frankton, where the New Zealand Transport Agency is leading major highway upgrades, including installation of traffic lights, expanded bus facilities, and safer cycling and pedestrian paths. For all your engineering, fabrication, machining, hydraulic and transport needs • Precision Engineering • Transporter Service • Crane Truck Service • General Engineering • Retail Store • Hydraulic hosing • Farm on-site Maintenance 55 Springfield Road, Temuka | 03 615 8035 | 027 447 2594 admin@millarengineering.co.nz | store@millarengineering.co.nz
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