Residents of Moeraki will petition the Waitaki District Council next week seeking action on the Haven St slip, which is disrupting traffic on the town's main street.
Brian Todd, joint owner of the Moeraki Tavern, said the petition had been signed by 447 people.
There are about 400 properties in Moeraki.
The petitioners sought continued direct road access to Moeraki through the Haven St slip area.
Residents were not happy with a proposal that it be closed, forcing traffic into the town to go via Davids, Tenby and Haverford Sts, he said.
The council is considering further remedial work on the slip which could cost about $600,000.
About 100m of Haven St, east of Davids St towards the Moeraki port area, has been severely affected by ground movement over many years. Regular repairs costing up to $20,000 a year have been needed to keep the road open to traffic.
The problem was aired at a Waihemo Community Board meeting in Moeraki on Monday night when engineering consultant GHD Project director Dave Charters, of Dunedin, revealed in a geotechnical report, commissioned by the council, the slip is moving about 232mm a year.
To stop the slip completely would "cost a fortune", Mr Charters said.
He could offer a solution that could "mitigate" and slow down the slip.
But Mr Todd said, when approached, the proposed remedial work would "never be any good".
The only solution he and other residents could see was to keep patching it.
The slip dates back to at least 1875, when Haven St was reported to be impassable for horse-drawn traffic.
Mr Charters said that, in the first stage, it was proposed to lower the street in the slip area to reduce the load on the unstable ground.
This would slow the rate of movement.
A maximum gradient of 6% (1:17) would be adopted, which will allow the road to be used by vehicles towing boats on trailers.
If a second stage was needed, it could cost $850,000 and involve drilling vertical drains and filling them with gravel.
