Councillors yesterday voted unanimously in favour of a plan to reopen the road to vehicles, but only after a shared pathway - catering for pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorists - is built next year.
The proposal was unveiled by the Dunedin City Council's hearings committee - chaired by Cr Colin Weatherall - last week.
The vote meant work would also begin immediately on minor parking and turning improvements either side of the existing bollards, and to install a safety barrier and communications device at the Lawyers Head lookout.
The initial work was expected to be completed by the end of the year, but the shared pathway - and the reopening of the road to vehicles - could be a full year away.
However, Cr Dave Cull yesterday warned the total cost of the shared pathway was not yet known, and the bill could yet prove to be prohibitive.
The pressure on council finances was a "considerable ongoing issue", and more detailed information about the cost could yet mean councillors would have to "pause and think again", he said.
Cr Cull also worried barriers planned to keep people from getting too close to cliffs at the lookout - which could include a smaller fence or replanted prickly bushes - might not be effective in preventing deaths.
"I'm going to support this plan, but with the observation that should the investigation into the development plan throw up insoluble contradictions or conflicts, or if the costs just outweigh what we think we can achieve, then we might have to revisit this issue and look at other possibilities," he said.
Speaking earlier, hearings committee chairman Cr Colin Weatherall said the initial improvements would be paid for from within existing council budgets, but determining the larger cost of the shared pathway would be up to those involved in work on the development plan.
Cr Weatherall would not estimate the size of the possible bill when announcing the plan at a press conference last week, but yesterday said it could be "tens of thousands of dollars, or it could be somewhat more".
It was hoped more detailed plans could be ready in time for inclusion in the 2011-12 annual plan consultation early next year, he said.
Mayor Peter Chin said he had "no difficulty" with the decisions made by the council to date, and praised the work of the hearings committee in wading through nearly 260 submissions and listening to about 70 speakers during a two-day hearing in August.
"It's certainly been an issue that has kind of captured the city with a passion that perhaps maybe we just didn't understand."
Mr Chin was confident the result would be an improved facility providing a "better amenity for the city than perhaps it has been in the past".
