14 | T T Karen Phelps QT arterial project overcomes challenges The project is QLDC’s largest-ever public infrastructure project and forms part of the Queenstown Town Centre Masterplan. Wakatipu Transport Alliance REGIONAL 2014 LIMITED 0800DRILLER KEVIN KILKELLY 027 432 3119 kev.kilkelly@xtra.co.nz PO BOX 95, OMAKAU. 9352 • CORE DRILLING • FLOOR SAWING • WALL SAWING • CONCRETE GRINDING • WIRE SAWING • DECORATIVE CUTTING • SOFF SAW CUTTING • CONCRETE EXPANSION CUTTING Earthmoving specialists Locally owned & operated earthmoving company in the Queenstown lakes district. We take pride in all our work & strive to exceed your expectations. 027 513 2520 htcontractingqueenstown@gmail.com McNeilly Heavy Haulage are proud to support Wakatipu Transport Alliance 027 489 3794 mark@mcneillyhh.co.nz www.mcneillyhh.co.nz A $98.77 million project that has transformed Queenstown’s transport network has been named a finalist in the 2026 Civil Contractors New Zealand Construction Awards. Queenstown Arterial Road Stage 1 was named a finalist in Category 4 — Projects with a Value of Between $20 Million and $100 Million — recognising a project that tackled major engineering, logistical, environmental and cultural challenges in one of New Zealand’s most constrained urban environments. Delivered for Queenstown Lakes District Council by the Kā Huanui a Tāhuna Alliance, the project created a new arterial route above Queenstown’s CBD, linking Melbourne Street with Henry Street and providing an alternative to the State Highway through the town centre. For Alliance Manager Oliver Snyder the recognition reflects the complexity of delivering major infrastructure as the team worked within an established and highly sensitive urban environment. “The project brought together a huge range of challenges in a very small footprint,” says Oliver. “We were working on a steep, geologically complex hillside immediately above the CBD, alongside heritage buildings, apartments, a school, hotels and a nationally significant river system.” The project is QLDC’s largest-ever public infrastructure project and forms part of the Queenstown Town Centre Masterplan. Design began in April 2021, construction started in July that year and physical works were completed on 30 June 2025. The need for the project had been recognised for decades with Queenstown’s single State Highway corridor struggling to accommodate the rapid growth in residents and visitors. Stage 1 provides an alternative route around the town centre improving access to Arthurs Point and supporting the long-term expansion and revitalisation of the CBD. Its $98.77 million value places it close to the upper limit of the awards category but it was the technical complexity behind that investment that presented the Alliance with some of its biggest challenges. Within a corridor just 1.1km long the project involved more than 30km of new pipes and ducts, extensive three-waters infrastructure, power and fibre networks and 895m of retaining walls reaching up to 8.5m high. The retaining structures incorporated 240 piles, 270 precast concrete panels manufactured in Christchurch and transported to Queenstown and 328 tie-back anchors with a combined anchor length of 3.9km. “The retaining walls were a major undertaking in themselves,” says Oliver. “The tolerance for error was essentially zero because the piles and panels had to align precisely on a steep hillside.” The logistics of transporting the 270 precast panels to the constrained Queenstown site were managed over a 26-month programme without a single health and safety incident. T T to page 16
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