Otago Museum director Dr Ian Griffin has welcomed a new compromise option involving proposed cycleways that could allow the Otago Museum to keep some of its nearby parking.
Dr Griffin told a recent Otago Museum trust board meeting he was pleased the new ''option 1b'' had emerged, as public consultation over proposed new cycleways continued.
He hoped that during the next phase of consultation on the cycleways proposal ''the undoubted negative impact'' all the proposals would have on museum operations would be ''fully taken into account''.
''We do support increased cycle safety for the relatively small numbers of cyclists,'' he added.
But he was concerned that moving parking away from the museum ''potentially creates safety issues'' for the museum's 500,000 annual visitors, many of whom arrived by car.
They would have to cross ''a busy state highway'' on foot to reach the museum, he said.
In a report tabled at the board meeting, he called on board members who were also Dunedin city councillors to ''help make the museum's case in any future discussions''.
The city council said last December that it would analyse parking use along a central Dunedin stretch of State Highway 1 proposed for a separate cycle facility, and investigate alternative parking options.
Parking outside and access to up to 46 businesses on the two one-way sections of State Highway 1 through the city could be affected by proposals to install a unidirectional or two-way lane to improve cyclist safety.
In an earlier submission to the DCC, Dr Griffin said both cycle proposals would seriously affect the museum's operation because of the potential loss of parking on both sides of the museum complex.
