New city councillor Russell Lund said an alternative proposal was in the offing.
He called it the Leith Stream Cycleway and said engineer and heritage advocate Stephen Macknight was behind the idea.
"It’s a victory for common sense," Cr Lund said.
"It’s a far better solution."
Mr Macknight said a shared path could run from the University of Otago beside the Water of Leith on to Anzac Ave, connecting with Te Aka Ōtākou, the harbour pathway.
Cyclists wanted to get to the university campus, Otago Polytechnic and Forsyth Barr Stadium, he said.
"There’s obviously been a lot of negativity and issues with Albany St, so we were thinking ‘How do we solve that problem and do something that’s even better’ and this is where we can do that."
Mr Macknight said the alternative route would provide a more pleasant ride and better links for more people.
"It’s more direct and doesn’t have any real potential negatives."
Meanwhile, the Dunedin City Council is calling for tenders for the Albany St Connection project.
This has been described by the council as providing a safe walking and cycling connection between the harbour shared path and Dunedin’s tertiary education area and central city.
Tenders are due to close on Wednesday.
"The group is going to be strongly advocating to the CEO to just pause and not proceed with any haste on Albany St."
During the council’s previous term, the project stalled and then restarted after two tight votes from councillors.
Cr Lund said a decision by the council in September to proceed with Albany St changes was an abuse of process and former councillor Jim O’Malley’s performance on the issue was a major reason for him getting voted out in last month’s election.
Dr O’Malley’s participation in the Albany St vote came a month after there had been legal advice strongly recommending he stay out of the matter after critical commentary from him about people who had made submissions.
Lawyers for property owner Phillip Day sent the council a letter last month, asking it to halt work on the Albany Street Connection project, because a legal challenge was being prepared.
Mr Day was one person waiting to see if the new council would again revisit the issue.
Businesspeople in the area were worried about loss of carparks and Mr Day said they were open to negotiations with new councillors, as this could save ratepayers from having to fund more legal costs.
The council said in its tender overview it wanted to partner with a supplier to construct a cycleway in Albany St, including making improvements to intersections and installing lane separators to provide a safe on-road cycleway.
"To create efficiencies and minimise future disruption, this contract also includes the resurfacing of Albany St."
In recent weeks, the council has not answered questions from the Otago Daily Times about legal issues relating to the project.
Asked why it was important to press on in timely fashion, the council had no comment.
A council spokesman said on Thursday the project had been ready to proceed for months.
