Now that work is under way on the widening of the Ohakune Mountain road, a proposal for separated cycle and walkway away from the Ohakune Mountain Road has been initiated by the Tongariro Taupo Conservation Board.
The proposal has support from Ruapehu District Council, Ngati Rangi and Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) and DoC, who sit on the Ohakune Mountain Road management committee.
Ruapehu District Council was told last week that the board had recommended toDoC's policy planning team that a partial plan change to the Tongariro National Park Management Plan should be pursued.
Council chief executive Peter Till said there seem to be more cyclists coming to the area each year and it makes sense to have cycle routes that are off road.
"All credit to the people who built the road in the 1950s but traffic is of course much heavier now and they could not have envisaged the volume of traffic we see now.
"We have to be careful about the impact on the plant life in the area because it is unique and we have had to adhere strictly to DoC and iwi protocols with the road widening."
Mr Till said the old logging tramways in the bush could be resurrected as cycle and walkways without causing further disturbance to the native bush in the area.
Ruapehu District councillor David "Rabbit" Nottage said he thinks the proposal is an excellent idea that will improve safety and attract more tourism in the area.
"It will probably be at least another summer before anything will get under way but it is an excellent idea and everyone is getting behind it."
He said it would probably take at least six months to draft a new set of rules, followed by public notification, submissions, hearings then deliberations.
Ruapehu District Council roads manager Warren Furner said the Conservation Board's support is good news, but a lot of water has to go under the bridge before the council can do anything.
"As it stands under the plan, no mountain bikes are allowed to be ridden in the World Heritage National Park, nor is the construction of any new tracks unless, like the specific Ohakune Old Coach Road changes made in 2011, are implemented."
The proposed new carriageway would link a number of existing used and disused tracks, including the Old Blyth, Rimu, the road way and access route to the Ohakune water catchment area, old carriageways along with early forestry routes, which would including a recently rediscovered bridge which runs across the Mangawhero.
Mr Furner said rather than widening the Mountain road, the proposed track is a creative solution to the ever-increasing traffic problems.