
Dunedin City Council community and recreation services manager Mick Reece confirmed when contacted yesterday the gates would be opened on Monday morning.
From then, contractors working for the council would begin reopening the gates each weekday morning, one hour after sunrise, and closing them again one hour before sunset, he said.
The gates would remain closed at weekends.
Pedestrians would continue to have unrestricted access through a side gate.
The move follows a decision by the council's community development committee on September 1, when councillors at the meeting voted in favour of a "compromise" agreement to partially reopen the road.
Their decision also meant a delay for plans to build a security fence at Lawyers Head, while a resource consent was sought, which could take three months.
The fence could also be abandoned altogether if no further incidents occurred at Lawyers Head in the meantime.
Yesterday, Mr Reece said since the meeting contractors had been working to prepare the road and Lawyers Head area for reopening, as maintenance had been deferred since the road's closure in 2006.
Most of the work had involved clearing rubbish bins and cutting back overgrown vegetation, as well as clearing piled-up sand from several car parks around the St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club, he said.
The road was shut to allow construction of the city's sewage outfall pipe, but remained closed as evidence pointed to a reduction in suicides and an increase in wildlife activity.
The continued closure, after the pipe's completion, led to complaints and a protest at the gates in July, attended by 30 people, and a petition signed by 120 people.
Another petition, with several hundred signatures, calling for the road to remain closed to vehicles, was also presented to the council.
Mr Reece said signs advising motorists of the road's opening hours were being prepared.
They would not be ready for Monday's opening, but were expected to be in place by the end of next week.
Contractors closing the gate each evening would check the area was clear of motorists before locking the gates, he said.