The Queenstown Lakes District Council decided early last week to close part of Speargrass Flat Rd when winds above 40kmh an hour were forecast.
That followed a car being struck by a falling mature poplar on a section of the road between Domain and Lower Shotover Rds on December 5.
Nearby resident Hugh McLellan said another poplar beside the road, between Hunter and Slope Hill Rds, about 200m from his house, fell on Tuesday.
Luckily, it toppled on to trees beside it, not the road, he said.
"We heard the crash from our place.
"This is another stand of very old poplars, and quite a few have fallen already, some over the road."
In 2009, Queenstown man Russell Liggett (57) died when a 110-year-old poplar, with significant decay, fell and crushed the cab of his ute while he was driving along Lower Shotover Rd.
More than 60 poplars were subsequently removed.
Council property and infrastructure manager Peter Hansby told Mountain Scene last week there were about 340 poplars along the length of Speargrass Flat Rd. They were inspected in March, and again by the council’s arborist after the December 5 incident, Mr Hansby said.
A full independent assessment, to be carried out early next month, would reveal how many needed to be felled. Meanwhile, the council was taking a cautious approach by closing the road between Domain and Lower Shotover Rds whenever winds above 40kmh were forecast.
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