Construction of the 312km trail through the Mackenzie and Waitaki districts is being overseen by the Waitaki District Council through its company Tourism Waitaki, using a $2.75 million grant approved in September 2010 from the New Zealand cycle trail fund.
Waitaki councillors at their meeting this week received an update on the trail, and asked how much money had already been spent.
The council's community services group manager, Thunes Cloete, said about $900,000 was left from the original fund after building the trail from Mt Cook through Twizel, Ohau and to Omarama.
Work was being done on the Omarama to Otematata section at Pumpkin Point and Sailor's Cutting next to Lake Benmore and the Duntroon to Windsor section.
The emphasis now was on the Waitaki district sections.
Dr Cloete said, by the end of this year, ''phase one'' of the trail should be completed.
Prime Minister John Key, the instigator of the nationwide project of cycleways, has been invited to open the trail. He launched its construction when he was in Oamaru in 2010.
Dr Cloete said the end of phase one would still leave ''a significant amount'' of the trail on the road - he estimated 46% - but work would continue towards the ultimate aim of getting the whole trail off the road.
One priority was using the closed Old Slip Rd between Hakataramea and the top of Lake Waitaki on the north side of the lake to remove about 15 to 20km of the trail from State Highway 83 between Aviemore and Kurow.
The council received a $90,000 grant from the Aoraki Trust towards that part of the project, which was also supported by the Waimate District Council.
The Waitaki council had also pledged $475,000 over three years for the trail.
Cr Craig Dawson who represents the council on the Alps 2 Ocean (A2O) committee, said the original grant was ''never going to be near enough'' to fund construction of the whole trail off-road.
A Friends of A2O organisation is raising money to help the project.
