A Queenstown bus driver became stuck for an hour after cars parked on either side of a narrow road blocked it.
The driver, who asked not to be named, but was driving a Ritchies bus which is the operator for the Orbus Queenstown network, said it was "impossible" to drive along Arawata Tce in Sunshine Bay this week.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council said it had plans to extend the no parking lines in that area.
The bus driver said the cars, which can legally park on either side of the road, were not parked close enough to the kerb and that resulted in two more buses, which were also driving the Queenstown Route 1 service from Fernhill to the Remarkables Shops, queuing behind the first bus.
The buses were meant to be half an hour apart.
The bus driver wanted the district council to consider putting a yellow line on at least one side of the road to stop cars parking there.
"Some of the neighbours have put some cones out which seems to work, but they hadn’t extended far enough down the road," the bus driver said.
District council media and channels adviser Jack Barlow said the council was intending to extend existing yellow lines at the Watts Rd intersection, and that would reach about 100m further into Arawata Tce and help avoid such issues.
The extension of the yellow lines was a part of its annual minor improvements programme for land transport infrastructure which it aimed to complete during the present financial year.
"The council was disappointed to hear buses had been delayed in that manner ... we encourage drivers to park their cars as close to the kerb as possible when on narrow roads."
Otago Regional Council transport manager Garry Maloney said it would discuss the issue with the district council.
"Safe access up and down the road is important for all vehicles."
