Chairman John Bellamy and deputy chairwoman Christine Garey spoke on behalf of the board's submission to the Otago Regional Transport Committee at a hearing in respect of the draft regional land transport programme in Dunedin this week.
Mr Bellamy said the coastal road was dangerous and accordingly there were crashes along it almost every week.
He urged committee members to prioritise the continuation of work to improve the route, before it was too late and someone was killed.
"There hasn't been a fatality for a while but realistically it's only going to be a matter of time before there is a death or deaths," he said.
Mr Bellamy said recent improvement work on peninsula roads, including widening, had made a huge difference in those areas.
The community board was established in 2002, with a focus on road safety and creating safe walking and cycling paths for children attending school, he said.
But since then not much had changed.
"Portobello and Broad Bay school children still can't get to school safely. This matter should be looked at extremely seriously before people start to lose their lives," Mr Bellamy said.
Senior Constable Lox Kellas, of Portobello, also spoke at the hearing in support of the board's submission.
He regularly attended crashes along the peninsula, the number of which had recently increased.
So far this year 20 crashes had occurred on the main peninsula road, three of which were serious, Snr Const Kellas said.
"If you extrapolate that data, there is potential for between 60 and 70 crashes on the road this year," he said.
Road traffic had "markedly" increased on the peninsula in the past five years, including tour buses, cyclists and campervans, he said. "It's not designed to take that volume of traffic."
There were no crashes on widened parts of the coastal road, and motorists travelled more slowly where cycle lanes and footpaths had been installed because they could see physical barriers and lines, Snr Const Kellas said.
The committee will recommend a final transport programme to the Otago Regional Council for approval.
