Design work on a pedestrian clip-on to the Waikouaiti River rail bridge can begin after a community fundraising target was reached.
The bridge between Waikouaiti and Karitane is intended to be part of a cycling and walking trail linking coastal communities north of Dunedin.
Coastal Communities Cycle Connection co-ordinator Emily Cooper said $25,875 had been raised to cover the cost of preliminary design of the bridge clip-on.
"We are thrilled to reach this point," she said.
"The community has really come together to back this project and raise these funds."
Civil engineering and infrastructure firm Holmes will carry out the design work, which is expected to take about three months.
"We will have the opportunity to add the clip-on when KiwiRail finish building their new bridge, which is currently under construction," Ms Cooper said.
"Once we have the design, we can apply for resource consent from the Otago Regional Council and we can work with KiwiRail on the detailed design."
The regional council will not charge the community group for processing the resource consent.
Fundraising included a mountainbiking event and bingo night and Ms Cooper said several significant donations had come in.
Linking Waikouaiti with Karitane is one section of the broader project, which also includes providing an off-road walking and cycling path between Warrington and Waitati and connecting through to Port Chalmers.
The Dunedin Tracks Network Trust is administering the funds on behalf of the cycleway group.
Fundraising for the project continues.
