A resource consent application was lodged last month with the Dunedin City Council for the proposed trail’s first stage, between Mosgiel and Outram, former Taieri Trails Group chairman Colin Brown said.
"We haven't actually started putting a shovel in the ground yet, as it were, but we're a lot closer," he said.
The group had received design specifications from the Otago Regional Council relating to how floodbanks could be used for part of the trail, Mr Brown said.
It was also working with the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi on getting approval for the design of an attachment clipping on to the road bridge over the Taieri River at Outram, he said.
Longer term, the plan is to develop the trail through to Waihola, linking with the Clutha Gold Trail.
At the other end, it would connect with the planned Dunedin Tunnels Trail.
An updated feasibility study described the Taieri trail as the missing link that limited Dunedin from being considered as a destination by cycling tourists.
The total distance of the Taieri trail’s first stage - Mosgiel to Outram - is 15km and the estimated build cost is $3.4 million.
