Golf Course Road, Wānaka’s only central traffic bypass, was closed to traffic last week as council contractors began to lay a mains water pipeline under the road.

The $6.4M project to connect underground mains water pipes from the western side of Wānaka to pipes along Anderson Road is essential infrastructure, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) staff say, but the route selected for the underground project will disrupt traffic on several busy central roads from now until the end of the year. 

The chosen route will take the pipeline down Golf Course Road; across and down Ballantyne Road to Macpherson Street; up Macpherson Street to the state highway; along the highway to the Anderson Road roundabout; and across the roundabout to connect to the Anderson Road pipes.

Traffic management alone is costing $350,000.

Traffic is diverted along the red route through town while contractors install the West Wānaka mains pipeline along the orange route. IMAGE: Supplied

QLDC spokesperson Sam White said council did consider different routes for transferring the  water supply across town, including through the golf course and through undeveloped land east of the golf course.

Wānaka Golf Club’s board chair David Smallbone said the club was approached last year by a council staff member who proposed running the pipes under golf course land, beside a treeline four metres in from the boundary adjacent to Macpherson Street properties. It  was indicated to  him it would take “a couple of months”, David said. 

This option was not pursued, however, as it was estimated it would be “significantly more expensive than installing the pipeline in the road”, Sam said.

“The final alignment was chosen as the preferred option due to significant cost savings that could be achieved by placing the pipeline in the road reserve already owned by QLDC,” he  said.

When asked, Sam declined to specify the cost savings or exactly how much the golf course option would have cost to complete. 

Instead he said the “estimated cost of routing the pipeline through the golf course was more than $500,000 higher than the preferred option.”

A proposal to remove this treeline on the golf course to install the pipeline underground was  investigated. PHOTO: Wānaka App

A council investigation into the golf course option highlighted issues such as the removal of existing tree roots, accommodating undulating ground (such as additional valves and fittings) and “risks associated with trenching through unknown ground in close proximity to residences”. 

“Furthermore, the work that would have been required to reinstate/repair the golf course would have extended the delivery time for this project and increased costs,” he said.

David said the golf club could have lived without the trees (which stop wayward golf balls) provided the council erected a high netting fence along that boundary, similar to the fence beside the council’s Frankton Golf Centre driving range near the Queenstown Events Centre.

“That would have worked for us,” David said. “We could have planted inside it [and] it could have been a very good answer.”

Sam said the council did not consider the option of replacing the trees with a fence.

QLDC general manager property and infrastructure Pete Hansby acknowledged that the chosen route meant residents will experience some inconvenience.

“Like any large construction project, there will be some disruption for residents while this infrastructure upgrade is underway. We’ll make every effort to get the job done as quickly as possible, with minimal disruption.”

Golf Course Road reopens this week but only to one way traffic from Ballantyne Road to Cardrona Valley Road. A diversion is in place for all other traffic for the next three months but the trail beside the golf course will remain open to pedestrians/cyclists throughout the road works.