Funding of $1.3 million has been confirmed by the New Zealand Transport Agency for the next stage of the Otago Harbour cycleway to Port Chalmers.
It also appears likely the cycle- way could be completed as far as Port Chalmers by 2015, providing an unbroken route from the township along the harbour's edge to Dunedin's central city for pedestrians and cyclists.
Both developments were confirmed by NZTA Otago-Southland regional director Bruce Richards when contacted yesterday.
He said approval for funding totalling $1.3 million had been approved last month, and would pay for a mix of investigation, design and some construction work over the next 18 months.
That included work on the next small step in the route, from Maia to St Leonards, which would begin almost immediately, he said.
The initial investigation and design work for that section would be followed by construction starting later this year, at the beginning of the summer construction season, and was likely to take a matter of months, he said.
The money would also pay for investigation work along the rest of the proposed route to Port Chalmers over the next 18 months, he said.
This would include surveying, geotechnical investigations and preliminary design work, as well as consultation with stakeholders and the community and preparation of resource consent applications.
The news brought a mixed reaction from at least one cyclist in the area.
Nik Leigh (35), of Burkes, said yesterday's announcement was "good news", but he questioned why the pace of work could not be accelerated. He and his wife were both keen cyclists and, together with their young child, wanted to use the cycleway to travel into the city.
However, the only way for them to reach it at present was to "run the gauntlet" on the open road from Burkes to Maia, where the completed cycleway ended.
Last week's logging-truck crash on State Highway 88 - the main road to Port Chalmers - had highlighted how vulnerable cyclists were on the road, he said.
"At the moment, if you [live] anywhere past Maia, if you're on a bike or walking, your only option is to run the gauntlet on the road.
"I think they could and should speed it [construction] up."
Mr Richards said the further $4.7 million in funding required for the project's remaining design and construction work - from St Leonards to Port Chalmers - needed to be confirmed in the next NZTA national land transport programme.
That programme would confirm funding for the three-year period from 2012-15, and Mr Richards said - although the funding had not yet been determined - he was confident the cycleway work would feature.
That would mean the cycleway would be completed to Port Chalmers by 2015, he said.
