It was a nightmare morning (Tuesday September 19) for many Wānaka motorists after delays caused by automated traffic lights at the intersection of Aubrey and Anderson Roads.

Some motorists reported it taking them an hour - and more - to get into Wānaka’s CBD, while others said they sat in their vehicles for at least 40 minutes waiting to get their children to school, as the backup from Aubrey Road led to long queues at the site of the other new roundabout construction at vet corner (the SH6 and SH84 intersection).

“Literal traffic jam all the way from Anderson Road all the way to the Albert Town intersection,” one local reported on social media.

“Absolutely insane. Never seen anything like it.”

Later in the day Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) acknowledged that work on the Aubrey Road and Anderson Road roundabout led to “a bit of a delay” for school buses, parents taking kids to school, and people heading to work.

“We’ve worked with crews on site to make some changes to the traffic management in place at the intersection,” QLDC said in a statement.

“For now, crews on site will be manually operating the temporary traffic lights during peak hours in the morning and afternoon to improve traffic flow and reduce delays as much as possible.

“We’ll continue to monitor the intersection and will make further changes to how traffic moves through the construction site if required. However, users of the intersection should still expect some delays as we work to safely construct the new roundabout here while keeping the road open.”

Deputy mayor Quentin Smith also acknowledged the delays were disruptive.

“The automatic light sequencing didn’t pick up levels of demand at different times,” he said.

“It was the first time the traffic management plan was in place and hopefully they learned from that.”

He said the new “active management” plan included stop/go workers who could assess the traffic demand.

“It seemed to help; having said that, there are still delays but it has been functioning throughout the day.”

People had asked why the work was not being undertaken at night, but Quentin said this was “not a particularly viable option in a cost-of-living crisis”.

“The cost to ratepayers is significantly higher for engaging contractors at night time rates.”

Other people had asked why the work was being done now, particularly given the SH6/SH84 entrance to Wānaka is also experiencing delays.

“There’s never a good time to do it,” Quentin said.

“It’s a complex situation. [The Waka Kotahi NZTA roundabout project at vet corner] is a 12-month operation, so not doing anything during that 12 months is a big ask.

“We are addressing long term complaints from the community around flooding at [the Aubrey and Anderson Roads] intersection and making it a safer and more efficient functioning intersection.”

QLDC has advised that traffic management at the Aubrey and Anderson Roads intersection may be required for the next seven weeks.