As shoppers eagerly await the return of Kmart to Dunedin, worries about potential car congestion at the entrance on Macandrew Rd have been addressed.
The location of the new Kmart store next door to the busy McDonald’s Andersons Bay drive-through has some shoppers concerned about the impact on traffic in the area.
Martin Dippie, a director of Otago Land Group Ltd, which owns the site and is developing the building, said a traffic plan developed as part of their resource consent addressed vehicle access in several ways.
"The traffic engineers have changed the site layout to separate the entry/exit at Macandrew Rd."
The current two-way vehicle crossing on Macandrew Rd is being altered to be exit only.
An entry-only vehicle crossing at the southwest end of the building off Macandrew Rd will provide a separate entry point.
"The new layout has a single lane entry road that will make it easier to exit only at the existing street crossing," Mr Dippie said.
There will also be two vehicle crossings on McBride St for vehicle loading and refuse collection.
Reviews regarding the safety of the right-turn exit to Macandrew Rd will be reviewed three months after the site becomes operational, and an additional safety review will take place one year after Kmart opens.
"It’s always been a really busy intersection as McD’s is the busiest drive-through by far," Mr Dippie said.
Kmart is expected to open within the next month.
