In September 2017, Wellington Mayor Justin Lester proposed a compromise solution for the layout of the Island Bay Cycleway.

Wellington's mayor is wading into the city's Island Bay cycleway debate, putting forward a solution to end the debacle - but residents are looking to a legal battle to block the proposal.

Justin Lester believes he has come up with a $4.1 million "common sense" compromise solution for the layout of cycleway along The Parade, which he will present at a Wellington City Council meeting on Wednesday.

But the Island Bay Residents' Association says the new proposal is still ignoring the views of locals, who want The Parade returned to its pre-cycleway design.

SUPPLIED An alternative layout for the Island Bay Cycleway would see a dedicated cycleway between the footpath and the kerb at the same height, leaving cars to park up against the kerb.

The Island Bay cycleway, which was completed in 2016, has been a controversial addition to the suburb. Some residents raised concerns about the safety of The Parade after it was narrowed, and questioned whether the whole thing was a waste of time and money.

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The cycleway also reduced car parking, prompting the council to undertake consultation on four new design options to solve this problem.

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF Wellington Mayor Justin Lester believes his compromise is "common sense" solution for the layout of The Parade.

As consultation went on, Island Bay residents proposed a fifth option – Option E – but that, along with the council's four other options, appears destined for the rubbish bin after Lester came forward with his solution.

Under the mayor's new proposal, the road lanes would be widened to 3.5 metres in each direction, and unmarked car parking would be restored along the length of The Parade.

The proposed new layout would cost $4.1m and see a dedicated cycleway built between the footpath and the kerb at the same height as the kerb, leaving cars to park up against it.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF The cycleway will come off the road, and cars will again park against the hard kerb.

"It will mean the lanes on The Parade will be widened, the cycleway comes off the road, drivers will park against a fixed kerb and car parks will be saved."

Safety improvements would also be made to reduce the cycling speed. Speed humps that were scraping against buses would be removed and angled car parking by the medical centre would be restored.

The new option would be paid for out of existing council budgets, meaning no new rates money would be needed, Lester said.

About $2m would be set aside to reseal the road once the project was completed, and for contingencies.

However, Island Bay Residents' Association president Vicki Greco said the idea was not a compromise.

"Once again the residents' views are being ignored. We want our big wide Parade back."

The design option was unsafe for everyone and the consensus from the submissions process was that people wanted the cycleway on the road, outside the cars, she said.

The residents would be happy for children under 12 to ride on the footpath, she said.

"We are not backing down and will fight until we are listened to ... we will go legal if we have to. We hope the council will see sense."

But Lester said the council had met 31 of the residents' 34 "bottom lines" during negotiations.

It was a good compromise option that the council wanted to push ahead with because everyone just wants to move on, he said.

"Up until Thursday last week I thought we had an agreement. However at a committee meeting they [residents] could not get a consensus and decided not to support the option."

The bottom line in the final decision for him was where kids would cycle and submissions from schools showed their preference was a separated cycleway on the kerbside.

"They were strong in their feedback and we did not want to put them back on the road and that was the key difference," Lester said.

Patrick Morgan, from Cycling Action Network, said the proposal was a sensible step forward.

"We're pleased to see the cycleway extended through the shopping area, a new kerb to make parking easier, and wider door buffer zones to reduce risk to cyclists and pedestrians."

The mayor's move comes after more than 3700 public submissions were received on the four earlier options put forward in July, which were rejected.

Many residents were unhappy with the options, which removed car parks and would cost about $7m. They urged the council to consider a fifth option that would see the parade returned to what it had been.

Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle said he still supported Option E, but would be the only councillor to do that.

He urged the Island Bay residents to "seriously consider" the compromise.

"This has been a very long saga and it's great we've got something that will work and that finds a good balance for most people," he said.

"Not everyone will be happy, but I think most people will see we've done the best job possible of coming up with something that works."

If adopted, installation of the new cycleway layout will begin in early 2018.

THE NEW DESIGN

* Road lanes widened to 3.5m through residential area of The Parade and 3.2m through shopping centre.

* 50cm median strip installed in the road through the residential section.

* Cycleway comes off the road and will be at same height as footpath, with raised platforms at intersections.

* Cars will park against the kerb.

* Cycleway will be painted a different colour and will have safety features to reduce cycling speeds.