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A large commuter car park will have less space for vehicles when a long-delayed upgrade is finally carried out later this year, the Dunedin City Council says.

The gravel St Andrew St car park is now expected to close for two months, beginning in either April or May, to allow cycleway extension work and a car park upgrade to be carried out, the DCC says.

The project was first confirmed in July last year, and at the time had been expected to begin within two months, during which time the car park would have been closed to all motorists.

Yesterday, DCC acting transport group manager Nick Sargent said there had been delays since then finalising designs and securing contractors, but work on the $700,000 project would still go ahead this year.

Once completed, the new car park design would have space for 225 angled parks, he confirmed.

In July, during a visit to the site, the ODT counted 240 vehicles parked there and space for another 40 or 50, bringing total capacity close to 300 vehicles.

However, the council was exploring ways to switch nearby parallel parks to angle parking in surrounding streets near the waterfront, Mr Sargent said.

That could create about 70 additional on-street parking spaces, to be used while the car park was closed and also offsetting the reduced capacity once it reopened.

The council also planned to survey the car park’s users to see "where they come from" and would then "offer some the chance to experience Dunedin’s public transport system", he said.

That would involve offering some commuters the chance to win free Bee Cards — for accessing public transport — to use while the car park was closed, he said.

Council staff, speaking at the time the project was announced last year, said the upgrade was timed to coincide with work on a key cycleway extension, which would connect the central city to the West Harbour shared path.

The car park needed to be reconfigured to accommodate the cycle lane, but upgrading it at the same time would deliver additional "positive benefits" for users.

That included a sealed surface, better drainage and safer entrances and exits, as well as a designated camper van parking area, staff said at the time.

The idea of allowing sections of the car park to remain open had been investigated, but ruled out, as it was impractical in a construction zone and would have extended the duration of the work, adding "significant cost".