The temporary roundabout at the intersection of Golf Course and Ballantyne Roads has received “largely positive” feedback from members of the public and will remain in place at least into spring.

The painted circle roundabout was created overnight in early March in response to increased vehicle congestion caused by nearby roadworks and detours affecting Ballantyne Road.

A Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) spokesperson told the Wānaka App this week the roundabout was put in place under a temporary Traffic Management Plan (TMP) created to alleviate traffic flows while construction of both the SH6/84 (Mt Iron junction) and Ballantyne Road-Riverbank Road roundabouts took place. 

“While the state highway roundabout has since been completed, the TMP at Ballantyne Road-Golf Course Road has been extended – and hence the roundabout will remain – until council’s work on the Riverbank Road intersection is completed later this year,” he said.

Work on the Riverbank/Ballantyne Roads intersection (estimated to cost $2.25M) has been paused through winter but will resume in spring when conditions are better for sealing.

The QLDC spokesperson said any further work on the Ballantyne/Golf Course Roads intersection will be “influenced by the outcome of NZTA Waka Kotahi’s Low Cost Low Risk funding decisions for 2024-2027”. 

“We’re expecting to hear the outcome of this in September and will be able to update the community after that,” he said.

The council spokesperson said anecdotal feedback from the public about the temporary arrangement had been “largely positive”. 

“The project team made minor adjustments to layout, markings etc based on an engineering report once it had been operating for a while,” he said.

Read more: ‘Temporary’ roundabout likely to stay

Initially, QLDC said the temporary roundabout was aligned with current roadworks and would be removed in May after the detours had ended.

However that decision was reconsidered and QLDC said earlier this year it would monitor the temporary roundabout and, if the results were positive, would look to retain it until a more permanent upgrade could be delivered.

The temporary roundabout cost around $5,000 for the road markings, signage and traffic management. 

PHOTO: Wānaka App