Extra funding has been secured for the 280km-long trail and getting the trail all the way to Dunedin is still the goal.
Southern Lakes Trails announced on Monday it had come to an agreement with landowners and government agencies on construction of the missing section of the Roxburgh Gorge Trail.
The agreement would eliminate the need for a water cruise down part of the gorge as access was not available for that piece of land.
Southern Lakes Trails chief executive Janeen Wood said it had taken a lot of work and at times it looked like it was not going to happen but they had hung in there.
She had not been involved for the whole time but the main issues were around dealing with government agencies and their insistence on trying to drive the trail through the marginal strip, she said. But the landowner was having none of that.
The proposal reached a stage that government agencies suggested 7km of bolt-on bridges be constructed in the gorge.
‘‘That was unfeasible for us, untenable, to do this just to stay off his land and in the marginal strips. So that’s why we persevered with trying to get a more practical solution. That would have cost millions,’’ she said.
‘‘By him giving us an easement, it means we can access those areas. So it’s a lot easier to build the tracks than what it was. That other build was going to have to be done completely off the water.
‘‘It was a major obstacle to get around and we got around it.’’
The route they were now going to build would return to what was originally planned.
If all went well the route would be finished by the end of next year, she said.
Work was continuing on the Queenstown-to-Cromwell trail and they were past the halfway mark.
‘‘We are making real progress now and working now, which can be seen as it is close to the road.’’
Then-prime minister Sir John Key announced $13 million of government funding for the project in May 2016, as part of a proposed $26.3m trail network spanning 536km throughout Otago. It also included a trail between Wānaka and Cromwell. Central Lakes Trust had also pledged $11 million at the time.
Mrs Wood said construction costs had increased 67% since the announcement and labour costs had risen 34%.
Central Lakes Trust had granted an additional $3m to the project and it was hoped this would be matched by a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment grant through the new Ngā Haerenga New Zealand Cycle Fund, announced by Tourism Minister Louise Upston in February.
They would have enough to cover the work in the Roxburgh Gorge but might need more for the Wānaka-Cromwell trail.
The trails had proven popular, Lake Dunstan closing in on 250,000 users since it opened in May 2021.
Initial projections predicted 7000 in the first year but it was getting close to 50,000 users a year.
Work was continuing on the track between Wānaka and Cromwell. The track would follow the Clutha River for much of the route.
She said the trails being geared towards tourism were still gaining support from government unlike urban areas where funding was being cut for suburban cycleways.
