The underpass was mooted almost a decade ago and gained more traction recently, when the trail trust threw its weight behind the project and a Central Otago annual plan submission supporting the underpass was signed by more than 700 people.
After hearing annual plan submissions a fortnight ago, the Central Otago District Council agreed the $300,000 underpass should take priority, for safety reasons, in its works programme.
It resolved to seek a subsidy from the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and explore options for raising the rest of the money needed. Rail Trail trust chairwoman Kate Wilson told the council the trust would like to extend the trail into Clyde, as far as the Clyde Railway Station building.
She believed some funding might be available from the Government's contestable fund for maintaining the quality of the national cycle trail network, announced in February.
The $8 million, over four years, was not for day-to-day maintenance of trails, the Minister of Tourism, Prime Minister John Key said in February. It was for ''significant enhancements'' on trails or to cover one-off events, such as storms washing out tracks.
Detailed criteria for the funding will be announced in August, but applicants would have to raise half the funding for any project, he said. Mrs Dean said she had written to Mr Key, supporting any moves by the community to seek that source of funding for the underpass.
''I'm a frequent user of that intersection [as a driver] and I'm aware how tricky it can be and how fast the traffic goes. I've also written to the NZTA, although I understand funding the project's not among their top priorities,'' Mrs Dean said. She would support the trail trust's efforts to seek money from the $8 million fund.
''This is a real safety issue and it should be of huge concern to the prime minister as Minister of Tourism. The last thing we want is for anyone, a local or visitor, to be involved in an accident while they're crossing the highway at that intersection.''
The rail trail, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, set the standard for others in the national cycle network and was a massive drawcard for overseas and domestic visitors, she said.
''It's hugely beneficial to the country as a whole.''
