Dunedin stands to benefit from a proposed cycleway linking the city to the New Zealand's national network of great cycleways and a steady stream of cycling tourists.
The proposal, yet to be confirmed by the Dunedin City Council, is for a new route for cyclists, running alongside existing roads between the central city and Lawrence.
The route would head south from Dunedin along the coast, taking in Brighton and Taieri Mouth before heading inland to State Highway 1, then inland again along State Highway 8 to Lawrence, a report by council transportation planning manager Sarah Connolly said.
It would eventually form part of an expanded network of smaller trials linking the country's recognised New Zealand Cycle Trail of great rides, including the Otago Central Rail Trail, to cities and other tourist attractions, she said.
The concept also linked with a Tourism New Zealand initiative to target cycling tourists as one of its top four areas to focus on, Ms Connolly said.
The Dunedin to Lawrence route had been identified by the New Zealand Cycle Trail but required endorsement by the DCC, as well as the Clutha District Council and New Zealand Transport Agency for parts they were responsible for, before it could be confirmed.
It would require the DCC to spend an estimated $350,000 from existing cycleway budgets improving deficiencies along the route it was responsible for over the next few years.
That could include a new cycleway along Princes St, as well as new signs and wider painted shoulders beside roads in other areas.
The proposal was endorsed by councillors at yesterday's council planning and environment committee meeting, but only after some councillors questioned the project's priority against other cycleway initiatives in Dunedin.
Ms Connolly said the route proposed by the NZCT overlapped with council plans to improve cycling facilities as far as Brighton, as part of its Strategic Cycle Network.
The southern commuter route project, providing improved cycling facilities between South Dunedin and the CBD, remained the council's top-priority project and its funding could applied to the Princes St part of improvements needed for the NZCT route, she said.
Other parts of the proposed NZCT route, as far as Brighton, were probably a "middle to top" priority among what was left.
The Dunedin to Lawrence route would connect the city to cyclists using the yet-to-be completed Roxburgh Gorge and Clutha Gold trails, which terminated at Lawrence, she said.
Other routes, such as a link between Dunedin and Mosgiel through the Caversham tunnel, or a shared path from Port Chalmers to Macandrew Bay, could be added to the network on request.
Councillors voted to endorse the route. However, staff would first report back to councillors on the route's priority against other cycleway projects, and the cost of the work, before councillors voted whether to approve it.
