The Dunedin City Council is working with the New Zealand Transport Agency on the final design of the $150,000 project, of which the council will pay about $70,000.
Work is expected to begin in April, with the pathway running down the northern edge of Pine Hill Rd, improving pedestrian access to the city's main street - George St - below, a report by Dunedin City Council projects engineer Evan Matheson said.
The work was needed to improve a dangerous section of the road, where pedestrians crossed the state highway from the end of an existing footpath on the northern side to another on the southern side, he said.
The work would be carried out by the NZTA ahead of slip repair work also planned for later in the year.
However, NZTA staff have already advised they had no plans for a dedicated cycleway along the state highway into the central city, and council staff addressing a recent council committee meeting also ruled out the prospect.
Instead, the planned shared pathway would run from Fea St down to George St, on the northern side of Pine Hill Rd.
An original proposal to build a 1.5m-wide footpath had been expanded, with a 2m-wide shared pathway now planned to allow for cyclists to pass pedestrians, he said.
The pathway would still not be a full cycleway like those being constructed elsewhere in the city, he confirmed at last week's infrastructure services committee.
Instead, the pathway would be at "the lower end" of the acceptable standard, compared with other shared pathways on Portobello Rd or parts of Cumberland St, which were up to 3m wide. Mr Matheson accepted some increase in commuter traffic from cyclists using the new route was expected.
"But I don't think you can cater to every person in every part of the city, to be honest."
With about 170 people using the existing footpath each day, the demand was "clearly from pedestrians and that's our first priority".
If cyclists could be accommodated within existing budgets, "then that's the next consideration", he said.
Cr Jinty MacTavish said the 2m width of the proposed pathway was the "very minimum" of what was acceptable.
However, she supported the recommendations as a "good compromise".
The original proposal would also have seen the old footpath on the southern side of the road decommissioned, but councillors decided to retain it while building the new footpath.
Plans for a replacement fence and landscaping on the southern side, costing up to $400,000, would be discussed by council and NZTA staff and a representative from the Dunedin Amenities Society.
