Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher last week welcomed the $9 million, two-year package for the New Zealand Cycle Trails network announced by the government.
The new funding through the Ngā Haerenga New Zealand Cycle Trail Fund opens for applications at the end of this month.
Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Louise Upston said the first priority was to address design and resilience issues so the cycle trails could cope with increasing rider numbers and extreme weather.
The 23 Great Rides, of which six are in Otago and Southland, received about 1million visitors a year, of whom about 20% were international visitors, Ms Upston said.
With the numbers expected to keep growing, maintaining and improving the trails "is a must".
"For some, where they’re currently on roads, we want to get them off-road."
The new money is based on individual trails or councils contributing between 25% and 50% of the total project cost.
He said a priority bid would be to shift the Alps to Ocean from the northern side of Lake Aviemore to the southern Waitaki District side.
That section at present shares a narrow gravel road on the northern edge of Aviemore up to Benmore.
This section was of particular concern with many cases of cyclists coming to grief.
High season cyclist volumes competing with motorists and finding themselves forced off the road in that narrow section was the exacerbator, Mr Kircher said.
Mr Kircher said a successful bid from the new fund would require a contribution "from our side" which would hopefully be minimised.
The project was in the proposed 2025-34 draft long-term plan process — with options to hold off "several years into the future" or to bring it forward.
Submissions closed last week.
"It’s still contestable."
Mr Kircher said he took some comfort in the government already having insight to the Aviemore section issue after the last Minister of Tourism Matt Doocey personally encountered "a very hazardous situation" there.
A future opportunity to reroute part of the Quailburn section past the Clay Cliffs near Omarama is also on the cards.
This would not only make it safer but ensure "an even more special part of the trail" given the spectacle of the cliffs.
Mr Kircher said the national cycle trails had been making a case in Wellington for more funding for some time.
As it was, the core $8m annual fund had been spread ever more thinly partly because the national portfolio of "great rides" had expanded.
Cyclone Gabrielle’s impact on some North Island trails’ infrastructure had also "soaked up" the fund, exacerbating the issue.
Since 2019, the WDC has received $45,000 annually for Alps to Ocean operational costs.
Overall the trail has been funded $6.74m since 2010 from the $8m annual fund, including for the initial build cost of $3.78m in 2010, and for minor enhancements or specific storm damage repairs.
