Broad Bay resident Simon Blake contacted the Otago Daily Times yesterday, angry Fulton Hogan contractors working on Portobello Rd - near the Vauxhall Yacht Club - were holding up morning commuter traffic.
Mr Blake said he had been stuck in a queue of vehicles for more than 10 minutes from 8.15am yesterday, while contractors stopped traffic to allow a delivery of rocks to be dumped for use in the road-widening work.
He was trying to drive into the city at the time, and said a queue of cars stretching for "miles" had formed during the delay.
"It was just ridiculous traffic management. And this is a major road in Dunedin."
Mr Blake did not think Otago Peninsula residents should have to put up with the roadworks for the next decade, as scheduled, and wanted the work to be halted or accelerated.
"If they're going to do it, they need to actually set it up so it's all done in two years. They're just making it ineffective to live there."
Fulton Hogan staff declined to comment when contacted yesterday, but Dunedin City Council projects engineer Evan Matheson said he would be speaking to the contractors to see if Mr Blake's claims were accurate.
He would "like to think" the contractors would avoid traffic disruption during peak times.
"It's a valid point [Mr Blake] has raised.
"We would expect them to be more considerate of commuters during peak times."
However, Mr Matheson said it would be unrealistic to expect the pace of the cycleway project be accelerated, at extra cost to the council.
The $35.5 million project - stretching from the city to Taiaroa Head - was being completed in stages, with priority given to centres of population following an Otago Peninsula Community Board request.
The work was due to be completed in 2023, with 11 stages still to be done at a cost of about $27 million.
