The Mosgiel Taieri Community Board last night rejected the Dunedin City Council's preferred option for the Riccarton Rd upgrade.
The board did not vote on the council-preferred option A because chairman Bill Feather could not find anyone to second his motion.
Members voted for the more expensive option B, with staunch option A opponent Brian Miller abstaining.
Cr Syd Brown withdrew from the debate and vote.
The board will also ask the council to speed up the project rather than stage it over 10 years.
To deal with safety concerns between Gladstone Rd and State Highway 87 the council prefers the cheaper $1.8 million option A - widening Riccarton Rd to 6.5m over nine years, with two 1m-wide sealed shoulders either side along the 4.2km stretch.
It is within the council's existing budgets as long as it is staged to maximise New Zealand Transport Agency subsidies.
The $2.6 million option B would see the road widened to 7m, with two 1.5m wide shoulders. It would involve land purchases and could not be funded within existing council budgets.
Mr Miller said he opposed option A because it was unsafe. As a Riccarton Rd resident, he would be unable to exit his property safely.
He doubted the option A widening left ample room for drainage, which could lead to flooding or contamination.
The council should opt for the best option for the road and its residents, not a "quick fix".
Mr Miller asked council projects engineer Evan Matheson whether private landowners had been approached about buying land. Mr Matheson said the council had not made formal approaches but understood there would be opposition.
The Public Works Act may be needed for option B, and that could be a lengthy process, he said. Innovative engineering would deal with drainage at the narrower points of the road, he said.
When asked, Mr Matheson said opinion was split at last month's public meeting in Mosgiel, running about "fifty-fifty" between options A and B based on written feedback.
Community board member Martin Dillon said he had gained a strong impression from the public meeting residents preferred option B, as the safer of the two.
Mr Matheson said it was wrong to consider option A the "poor cousin" of option B.
The council's infrastructure services committee will consider the project at its meeting on Tuesday.
