Getting traffic flowing better through Frankton: community input sought

The NZ Transport Agency is asking the community to help it build a better picture of traffic patterns and movements in Queenstown’s Frankton area. The need to get traffic flowing smoothly and safely through Frankton, along State Highway 6, from the Grant Road roundabout with Ladies Mile to the BP roundabout and onto the Kawarau Falls Bridge, is the aim of the project.

Strong economic growth driven by record numbers of visitors to the Queenstown area has been the catalyst for a major construction boom in Frankton, and a corresponding rise in traffic congestion.

Transport Agency Senior Project Manager Phil Dowsett says the aim of this project is to increase the traffic capacity of SH6 between Grant Road and the Kawarau Falls Bridge and provide better connections to other parts of the network, improve public transport and walking and cycling links. “All of this will help create the well-connected and integrated transport system Queenstown needs,” says Mr Dowsett.

“An important step toward achieving this is developing a good understanding of current and future travel patterns and people’s priorities in and around Frankton. This is where the community can help us by completing a short survey so we have that local knowledge and experience.”

The survey data will feed into a business case under development to secure funding to move the SH6/ Grant Road and the Kawarau Falls Bridge Improvements Project to the investigation stage. From this, options will be developed that the community and stakeholders will have an opportunity to provide feedback on.

Mr Dowsett says the Transport Agency’s immediate focus is on getting as many people as possible to take part in the survey. There are a number of ways of doing this including online at www.franktoncommunity.nz/news(external link) or a survey kiosk located at the Queenstown Events Centre.

• Project staff will have the survey available at the Remarkables Market, 48 Hawthorne Drive, Frankton, on Saturday, 11 November between 9.00am and 2.00pm, and they are also happy to answer any questions.
• They will be doing this again at St Margaret’s Church Hall in Frankton, on Monday, 13 November from 2.00pm to 7.00pm.

Mr Dowsett says SH6 from Grant Rd to the Kawarau Falls Bridge is important to the function and liveability of the Frankton community, connecting to key destinations such as Queenstown Airport, the Events Centre and Remarkables Park and the wider Wakatipu Basin.

“Frankton is at the heart of this project. Local people and the wider community can shape the future transport needs of this important area by filling in the survey. It is also an essential component in a programme involving the Transport Agency, Queenstown Lakes District Council, the Otago Regional Council and Queenstown Airport, to develop and deliver transport services and facilities to meet future growth in the Wakatipu Basin.”