Let there be light.
The new sets of traffic lights installed at Remarkables Park are due to come to red, amber and green life as early as Monday.
The lights on Hawthorne Dr, at the intersection of Red Oaks Dr and Cherry Blossom Ave, have been kept under wraps — specifically black plastic wrapping — since they were erected several weeks ago.
Queenstown ratepayers and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency each paid slightly under half of the $1.8 million to install the lights.
Queenstown’s council media man Sam White tells Mountain Scene the balance was forked out by Remarkables Park Ltd.
The project’s also been subsidised by Waka Kotahi through its national ‘Road to Zero’ campaign to reduce deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand’s roads.
Once operational, the lights will be synched into the Wellington transport operation centre’s national management grid.
The lights have been installed at a key intersection where there’s been significant development in recent years.
That’s included commercial offices and hotels sprouting up, along with Wakatipu High School.
‘‘This location ranked highly in terms of the potential for death and serious injury, hence its inclusion in the current three-year delivery cycle for traffic calming measures,’’ White says.
‘‘We [council] have undertaken this work proactively based on the increased volume of traffic along Hawthorne Dr coupled with the expected additional volume from further development in this area … from perpendicular feeder roads.
‘‘Not only will they increase the efficiency of traffic flow, they will also significantly increase safety at these locations.’’
Additionally, roading at the intersections will be installed with raised safety platforms, essentially low-lying speed humps, designed to reduce driver speeds on approach.
They’ll be put in after winter and should be finished by October, White says.
