It took Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh eight months to sail from Amsterdam to WA.

It has taken three years to decide where a memorial to him - which was removed to make way for Elizabeth Quay - should be relocated for more than it cost to build in 2007.

But the proposed new location, on Riverside Drive near the Narrows interchange, has angered the academic who was a driving force behind the original sundial tribute.

Curtin University director of history Nonja Peters, an expert on Dutch-Australian migration history, said the site "butts up against the freeway where nobody would ever visit".

"It's very distressing," Dr Peters said. "This is a big deal to the Dutch."

Through her work with Australia on the Map, Dr Peters played a key role in the City of Perth's decision to commission a public artwork in 2005.

Built by WA artists Joan Walsh-Smith and Charles Smith for $163,000, the sundial's original location on the foreshore west of Barrack Square aimed to mark de Vlamingh's arrival and naming of the Swan River in 1697.

In 2012-13 it was removed.

Several locations, including Kings Park and Barrack Square, have since been proposed but dismissed.

A report to tonight's meeting of council finance committee has recommended approval of the reconstruction of the sundial at the new site.

It noted Dr Peters' concerns but said the location was the "only viable option".

The report said there was some urgency in moving it while the Quay development was still happening to ensure the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority would fund it as planned at an estimated cost of more than $200,000.