Cromwell Community Board has recommended spending up to $300,000 to fix a “missing link" to the soon-to-be opened Kawarau Gorge Trail to help separate cyclists from motor vehicles.

At a meeting on Tuesday (March 3), the board discussed the 185-metre gap between Felton Road and the Bannockburn Hotel - and the safety risk it posed, particulary with the influx of bikes predicted when the new trail opens in the coming months.

“We currently see cyclists traversing that (section) the wrong way (i.e. on the right-hand side of the road) with traffic coming (towards them) across the brow of that hill,” a council staffer told the meeting.

Board member Mike Casey questioned the safety of cheaper construction options on the table, pushing for a physical barrier to be included in the plan.

“I think of myself as a responsible cyclist, and I ride the wrong side of that hill constantly,” Mike said.

“If there are all of a sudden 20 cyclists on the hill…they’ll spill out onto the road again…We would have spent $300,000 to have the same level of danger".

However, the board opted to recommend the cheaper of the two options on the table - a widened road edge rather than a completely separate cycle path, which would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more.

The project will be funded by Financial Contribution Reserves rather than roading budgets, which staff indicated were already squeezed.

A report to the meeting said government subsidies through NZTA were currently limited, with funding approved for only four per cent of the roading improvement projects the council had requested.

"It is unlikely that the connection would attract NZTA subsidy anytime soon," the report said.

"Delaying the project to wait for alternative funding means the high risk 'missing link' would be present as trail use peaks."

The recommendation now moves to the full council for final approval.

Staff are investigating if "pricing advantages" can be found by combining the work with a water main project in June, and more detail on construction options will be in the final proposal to the council.

Mike reminded the meeting how user numbers for the Cromwell to Clyde trail around Lake Dunstan were underestimated prior to its opening.

“I think we're probably going to underestimate, again, how popular this is,” Mike said, referring to the Kawarau Gorge Trail.

“Its going to be the newest thing to do when you land in Queenstown as an international or domestic visitor.”

Staff told the meeting the first 18 to 24 months of the new Kawarau Gorge Trail would likely be "chaos" while visitors and tour operators figured out the new routes.

Board chair Anna Harrison said a meeting with members of the Bannockburn Responsible Development Society was planned for the coming weeks.

At the board’s last meeting society representative Harvey Perkins warned Bannockburn is unprepared for the hundreds of cyclists expected to converge on the township with the trail’s impending opening.

Harvey said the township faces a major lack of basic infrastructure, including parking, public toilets, drinking water, and adequate green space for resting.

Read more: Bannockburn group warns village not ready for cycle trail influx and Kawarau trail close to finish

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