In a narrow 4-3 vote, the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) has opted to retrospectively approve the removal of a right-hand turn into Ardmore Street, which means the signalised crossing point on SH84 will be retained.

The traffic lights and new crossing point are already completed and operational - part of the Schools to Pool project designed to provide a safe route from local schools to the Wānaka Recreation Centre - and would cost more than half a million dollars to remediate.

The project was a joint initiative of Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).

WUCCB members were divided into two groups at yesterday’s meeting, with one group preferring to approve the retrospective removal of the right-hand turn.

A smaller group wanted to remove the new signalised crossing and reinstate the previous refuge island crossing 50m east.

The right-hand turn which was removed during the traffic lights project means instead of taking a right into Ardmore Street immediately after the roundabout, drivers must take a right onto Ballantyne Road slightly further up, and another right shortly afterwards to reach the Bottle-O and vape shop.

Staff and board members estimated the delay to cost drivers no more than a minute.

Board member Chris Hadfield said “a number of people” had approached him about removal of the right-hand turn.

Board member John Wellington said this was “a minor inconvenience at best”.

“I really struggle to comprehend how… a one minute detour can possibly justify removing the installation of traffic lights as part of a project that has been talked about and developed over years.”

Councillor Cody Tucker said the prospect of backpedalling and reinstating the previous refuge island was “crazy” and to spend more than half a million dollars to remedy it was “reckless”.

The crossing had been installed in the wrong location and if it was going to cost a lot to remedy it, that wasn’t the community board’s fault, board member Linda Joll said.

Councillor Lyal Cocks said he “couldn’t support spending that much money removing what has been done, rightly or wrongly”. 

Chris said it was “a bigger issue than just a right hand turn”.

Concerns about the traffic lights and their location - less than 100m from a busy roundabout - first cropped up in June, with locals worried they would cause traffic jams.

Earlier this week, the Wānaka Fire Brigade said the lights would cause delays in emergency responses, saying a fire truck had been delayed once already.

Read more: ‘Every second counts’: Concerns over traffic light delays

A QLDC staffer said yesterday that emergency services had not been consulted on the change as “it wasn’t envisaged that there would be a material impact on their ability to respond to an emergency event”. 

Ultimately the location of the crossing was NZTA’s decision, they added.

Opinions on whether the effects of the traffic lights on the roundabout had been significant enough to warrant the costly reinstatement of the previous refuge island were mixed among board members.

WUCCB chair Simon Telfer said there was an “armageddon forecast” before the lights turned on, which “hasn’t happened”.

Board chair Simon Telfer said there will be congestion in the roundabout area during summer “whether there’s lights or not”. PHOTO: Jeannine Tuffin

“The lights have been turned on and I haven’t seen major challenges. Over summer there will be greater use, but we have congestion around that anyway, whether there’s lights or not.”

Councillor Barry Bruce, who owns a nearby car rental, said he had noticed “serious congestion” at busy times.

Board members discussed the possibility of turning off the traffic lights, at Lyal’s suggestion, but John said that was “putting the cart before the horse”.

John said the traffic lights hadn’t been operational long enough to gauge their impacts.

It was also “not within our domain”, Simon said, as the signalised crossing is on a state highway managed by NZTA.

“There are other things we are conflating here that are linked but are not within our control.”

In the end the item was approved with support from John, Simon, Cody and Lyal, while Barry, Chris and Linda voted against it.

The Wānaka App approached NZTA for a comment on the concerns raised by the Wānaka Fire Brigade.

“QLDC is leading this project so please talk to them,” was the response.