Prime Minister John Key will officially open a new road and cycle-walkway to Oamaru Harbour while he is at the Mainland South Island National Party conference in Oamaru later this month.
The Wansbeck St extension and cycle-walkway, a $700,000 project by the Waitaki District Council, is nearing completion.
It is the first stage in the development of Oamaru Harbour.
Council Harbourside committee chairman Gary Kircher said yesterday an official opening and carnival was being planned for May 23, when Mr Key would be in Oamaru.
The Wansbeck St extension, a two-lane road, links to a roundabout at the end of Holmes Wharf.
The 1.3km cycle-walkway runs from Humber St and goes behind the historic buildings in Harbour St to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony.
The cycle-walkway will be the end of the Alps to Ocean cycleway, being planned by the Waitaki and Mackenzie district councils, from Mt Cook to Oamaru.
A feasibility study is being carried out for the project.
Mr Kircher said the council was working with several organisations planning the official opening by Mr Key.
"We want to have a carnival atmosphere for the opening."
Some cost savings had been made; for example, lighting for the cycle-walkway and along Marine Pde had been manufactured in Oamaru by Gillies Metaltech.
The money saved could be used to help pay for the next stage of the project, landscaping Marine Pde along the harbour frontage, the green space between the new road and the Oamaru Rowing Club, and linking that to the Friendly Bay beach.
