Winter has well and truly arrived in Queenstown, with frosty conditions meaning drivers need to take care on roads in the district.
Queenstown Lakes District Council network operations engineer Ian Marshall said grit trucks had been active in the resort since last month, and council contractor Downer EDI had begun treating priority roads and footpaths with a chemical de-icing and anti-icing agent.
Mr Marshall said calcium magnesium acetate, or CMA, had been applied on Monday night on Arthurs Point Rd, Gorge Rd and Fernhill Rd.
Treatment of busy and treacherous footpaths, for example the pedestrian area along Fernhill Rd, with the chemical had begun last week.
Mr Marshall said 15 tonnes of CMA had been purchased from the New Zealand Transport Agency to apply on roads around the Lakes District this winter.
However, the council was not at liberty to apply CMA for private companies or individuals who requested it, he said.
"We are getting requests from private companies for CMA [applications], but we're not in the business of providing it.
"It's not generally available for general public use."
Mr Marshall said CMA had to be reapplied frequently during winter and worked best if there had been "frost on frost on frost".
"It gets washed off the road, so if we think it's going to rain, we don't apply it.
"The ideal time for it is fine, clear conditions."
