Strong public support for road widening to provide better walking and cycling facilities between Dunedin and Taiaroa Head has prompted Dunedin City Council staff to reconsider which stretches of road to tackle first.
The council identified eight safety "hot spots" on Portobello Rd and Harington Point Rd to be widened by 2012, some of which have already been done.
After 2012, seven more sections of road will need to be widened to complete the walk and cycleway to Taiaroa Head, and construction for these sections is planned to go ahead between 2013 and 2023.
Those seven sections had been prioritised, with input from the Otago Peninsula Community Board and other consultation, but "in light of the strong public interest", those priorities should be revised, a report to go to the community board tomorrow said.
"The large population base in the metropolitan area of Dunedin suggests that it is more appropriate to focus on completing the link between Dunedin and Macandrew Bay," the report from council projects engineer Evan Matheson said.
This would be followed by completing the link between Company Bay and Portobello.
These sections are low on the present list of priorities, which has a section of Harington Point Rd, from Pipikaretu Rd to Harington Point, at the top.
Of the work planned to 2012, some sections on Harington Point Rd and at Company Bay have already been done, and work from Macandrew Bay to Company Bay and Ohinetu Point is under construction.
Work from the Vauxhall Yacht Club to Burns Point is planned for next year, and from Rosehill Rd to Macandrew Bay in 2011.
The construction rate of the road-widening work had been about 30% higher than expected, mainly because the design width had been widened by 1m and "across-the-board construction-rate increases" since 2006.
Work carried out between 2007 and 2013 had been expected to cost $9.7 million but was now budgeted at $11.9 million.
The work to be carried out between 2013 and 2023 is projected to cost about $24.6 million.
