An $8million roundabout will be built at the intersection of State Highways 6 and 8B at Cromwell.

The Cromwell Community Board received a report and approved the project at a meeting on Monday.

The report states Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency has been working on a project to address the safety risks and improve traffic flows at the intersection. 

The project, called ‘The SH6 –SH8B Junction Cromwell Intersection Upgrade’, aims “to resolve the safety risks and improve traffic flows Waka  Kotahi  New  Zealand  Transport  Agency  propose  to  construct  a  roundabout  in  the intersection”.

The upgrade includes the acquisition of 670sqm made up of Central Otago District Council (CODC) reserve land and two parcels of private land from neighbouring owners.

NZTA plan to begin construction on the $8million project after winter and is estimated to be finished by early 2022.

State  Highway 6 is a major New Zealand state highway and extends from the  northeastern corner of the South Island across the top of the island, then down its length.

It is also the main road from Cromwell to Wanaka and Cromwell to Queenstown.

State Highway 8B links State Highway 6 with State Highway 8.  

The report states a “number of serious injury crashes have occurred at the intersection of State Highway 6 and State Highway 8B. 

“Over recent years the safety record has worsened,” the report says. 

It states rising tourist numbers noted pre-Covid are expected to return and high levels of growth within the district are also causing increased pressure on the intersection.