Mt Barker residents hope to see dangerous Ballantyne Rd near Wanaka fully sealed as soon as possible, but understand the process Queenstown Lakes District Council has to go through takes time.
It was announced last July that work was set to begin on planning the full sealing of the road, but nine months later not much has changed.
The council applied for funding from the NZ Transport Agency to cover half the project cost, estimated to be between $4million and $5million.
However, its initial business case was turned down and council spokeswoman Rebecca Pitts said it had been reworked and resubmitted for approval this month.
A project start date would come after the business case process was complete.
Thirteen accidents had occurred on the road in the past five years, including one fatal and five minor-injury crashes.
The fatal crash occurred in October 2016, when Luggate teenager Jackson Aitchison (17) died after his car left the road and crashed into a tree. Mt Barker Residents Association chairman Jerry Rowley and Ballantyne Rd resident Bronwyn Coers said crashes continued to happen because of the nature of the road, which is a mix of gravel, tarseal and temporary Otta seal.
"A lot of people have not been brought up on gravel roads, and it gets corrugated, dusty and has potholes. It all conspires to loosen people’s grip on it," Mr Rowley said.
"You have to drive very defensively," Mrs Coers said.
Mr Rowley said that in an "ideal world" the road would have been sealed "yesterday".
However, it would be "unfair to think that Ballantyne Rd should be sealed above everything else."
"You’ve got to be aware that the budget can only go so far and you can’t expect to be at the top of the heap every time."
Mrs Coers said sealing the road had been an issue since she and her husband moved there a decade ago.
"We had to pay a road contribution levy when we bought our property, which we thought was going towards upgrading the road.
"The discussion on the table to get it sealed has been on the table for at least 10 years, possibly more."
Also, traffic on the road had increased "fourfold" in the past three to four years.
"There used to be times when I’d drive into town and there wouldn’t be anyone in eyesight on Ballantyne Rd. Now every time I drive in there are at least two or three cars ahead or behind. There’s easily four times the traffic volume."
Wanaka Community Board member Ed Taylor has been working with the Mount Barker Residents Association and said they would be "very upset" if the plan to seal the road did not go ahead.
"They’ve been waiting a long time.
"The nature and shape of the road and the condition it gets in, especially with the increased traffic, means that it’s becoming more and more of an issue, especially for the locals."
