Crash on contentious stretch of road

Overseas tourists travelling in this rental car were "incredibly lucky" not to have been seriously injured when the vehicle and a truck-trailer unit collided at the intersection of Ballantyne Rd and Boundary Rd, Wanaka, at 4.30pm yesterday, nearby resident John Coers said.

"This is another vehicle crash on a stretch of road which is in desperate need of safety upgrading," Mr Coers, a committee member of the Mount Barker Residents Association, said.

Mr Coers added the Queenstown Lakes District Council had long been talking about improving the safety of this stretch of Ballantyne Rd, which had been the "centre of multiple crashes".

In October 2016, Luggate teenager Jackson Aitchison (17) died after his car left the road and crashed into a tree.

In April, an Otago Daily Times report said Mt Barker residents were keen to see the road sealed and acknowledged the QLDC had earlier applied unsuccessfully to Transit New Zealand for funds to cover half the cost of the proposed sealing project.