The temporary arrangements at the intersection of Anzac Ave and Castle St in Dunedin are to remain in place until at least late November, while closing that end of Anzac Ave to through traffic is evaluated.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is trying to settle on a way to make the intersection safer for road users after the death of a cyclist there last November. In the interim, the layout was altered as a safety measure.
The Dunedin City Council infrastructure services committee voted yesterday to support a resolution from Cr Colin Weatherall that the temporary arrangements remain in place until the NZTA evaluates options for closing the street to through traffic and reports to the committee. Decisions about wider community consultation would be made after that.
The committee was originally asked to consider whether it should consult publicly on making the temporary arrangements permanent or closing the road, but the NZTA state highway manager for Otago and Southland Ian Duncan said the matter was not at that stage, because the options had not yet been investigated.
The point of meeting councillors was to determine if there was support for such an investigation.
The NZTA's preference was to make the temporary arrangements permanent, but it supported pursuing the closure if that was the council's preference, he said.
The NZTA owned the intersection and would fund the project.
Cr Lee Vandervis was initially concerned it appeared the NZTA was trying to present the council with a "fait accompli" of making the temporary arrangements permanent, but he agreed with the final resolution to maintain the temporary arrangement in the meantime as long as the NZTA consulted Cadbury, Hall Brothers Transport, the Taieri Gorge Railway and the Otago Farmers Market in its evaluation of any road closure.
Councillors resolved that consultation should also include, but not be limited to, the Road Transport Association, cycling advocates Spokes Dunedin and significant industries using articulated vehicles in the immediate area.
