Residents have made fresh calls to keep vehicles off Dunedin's scenic John Wilson Ocean Dr and protect the area as a pedestrian "promenade".
Gerrard Liddell, speaking on behalf of a group of South Dunedin residents, yesterday told a Dunedin City Council public forum the road was increasingly popular with "the young and the old, the fit and the frail" since its closure in 2006.
The removal of vehicles from the road had made it safer for walkers, runners, children playing in the area and those in wheelchairs, he believed.
Last month's decision by the community development committee to reopen the road should be reconsidered, he said.
The committee's decision will be considered at the full council meeting on August 17.
If it is approved, a gate partway along the road would remain in place but be unlocked each day - from one hour after sunrise until one hour before sunset - to allow vehicles through.
