With the new school term underway, traffic volumes at Queenstown’s Tucker Beach Road/ SH6 intersection have increased.
The intersection is currently being reconstructed for safety reasons by the NZ Transport Agency with additional underground pipe relocation needed to service nearby subdivisions for the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
“After Labour Weekend, a 30 km/ hour speed limit will be put in place for everyone’s safety through this intersection - road users including cyclists, and road crews,” says NZ Transport Agency Senior Project Manager Phil Dowsett.
“The reduced speed limit is unlikely to have a major impact on journey times for most road users. However, we encourage people to allow extra time for their journey because of the increased volumes of traffic during early morning and late afternoon peak travel times.”
The relocation of below ground and new utility services as part of this safety project is going well, ahead of the construction of retaining walls and the slip road where Tucker Beach Road connects with SH6 to Frankton, Mr Dowsett says.
Temporary traffic management is being used around the site and with work ready to ramp up even more, it is time to lower the speed limit to 30 km/ hour, he says.
Because of the limited highway room on the site, Transport Agency crews have had to stop vehicles making right turns in and out of Tucker Beach Road to ensure that a traffic lane in each direction can flow uninterrupted, but with the temporary speed limit.
View map showing SH6/Tucker Beach Rd temporary traffic turning changes [PDF, 3.5 MB]
“The 30 km/h speed limit will be applied next week and remain until early December. However, the temporary traffic management arrangements will be reviewed in the next two to three weeks to see whether any of the restrictions can be lifted.
“We ask for the patience of road users over the next few weeks, while we navigate through a particularly challenging and disruptive phase of the project,” Mr Dowsett says.
Project page for updates on Tucker Beach Road/SH6 work: www.nzta.govt.nz/tucker-beach-road-intersection
