The project to complete the cycleway along State Highway 88 was included in the NZTA's 2015 to 2018 National Land Transport Fund (NLTF) but was delayed after the cost of the design was estimated to be millions more than the $6 million to $10 million budgeted.
The NZTA told the Chalmers Community Board last week it would probably have to apply for funding as part of the 2018 to 2021 funding round.
Southern business unit manager Ian Duncan confirmed this meant funding for the project was not a certainty.
The project had to be considered against other priorities around the country and it was not a ``foregone conclusion for any NLTF project to be funded for construction'', he said.
However, NZTA was committed to developing a safe shared path for cyclists, pedestrians and others between Port Chalmers and St Leonards.
``This is a challenging project, given the lack of natural space alongside the highway, the rail line and route through Roseneath cutting, together with the coastal setting.
``We have, therefore, been working through a range of design options to ensure we get a good, feasible solution that is affordable and provides the public with value for money.
``To confirm funding for the project we need to demonstrate we've robustly worked through this process.''
NZTA was in the detailed design phase for the project, which was expected to take about a year, and subject to funding being confirmed, it hoped to start construction in 2018.
Chalmers board chairman Steve Walker questioned why it had taken NZTA so long to find out costs of the project had increased, given the last section was officially opened in 2012.
``What frustrates a lot of people out here is they see projects, for example the [Otago Peninsula shared pathway], that started long after us, going ahead with gusto,'' Mr Walker said.
The longer nothing was done, the more he worried funding would not be approved.
If that eventuated, the public would be left with a ``path that goes halfway to nowhere'' and cyclists would be forced to continue to ride on a dangerous stretch of highway.
