About 65% of the tracks to be built on the 300km trail from Mt Cook to Oamaru are either completed or under construction, with a $2.75 million grant from the Government's New Zealand cycle trail fund and $475,000 over three years from the Waitaki District Council.
The aim is to complete the trail by mid-January, and the council's community services manager, Thunes Cloete, said there would be an opening by Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton and Mackenzie Mayor Claire Barlow in that month.
However, Mr Key was being invited to officially open the trail in mid-April.
Mr Key opened the first part of the trail to be completed - the last 1.3km around the historic precinct and Oamaru Harbour - in May 2010 while in Oamaru for a National Party conference.
As at the beginning of this month, 52km of the trail was completed and ready to ride, 7km was under construction and about 40km yet to be started.
About 110km of the 300km will be newly constructed trail, the rest being on existing roads such as the upper Waitaki canal roads and the road on the north side of Lake Aviemore.
At present, the sections around the bottom of Lake Ohau from the Lake Ohau Lodge to Freehold Creek are under construction.
The Quailburn Rd to Omarama section was nearing completion, as well as that around the southern end of Lake Ohau.
It was hoped to have the section from Tasman Point (Aoraki Mt Cook Airport) to Omarama finished by mid-January.
