Officials hope to start construction soon to finish an 11-mile stretch of trail that connects St. Charles to Machens after receiving state funding last month. The segment could open this fall.
Depending on the weather — wet conditions could create more delays — construction is expected to last roughly three months.
The state hoped to start the project last summer, but funding had not been finalized. The $350,000, which will pay for a path to be constructed over a levee to avoid floodwater, was approved July 1.
The project is a priority for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said Sue Holst, a department spokeswoman.
"A lot of people have been anxiously waiting for this," she said. "Once it's dry enough to get in there we'll start construction."
She said connecting the two points has been in the works since 1987, but the floods of 1993 and 1995 spoiled the project's completion. The floods created two large "scour holes," or large areas of standing water on the trail.
Right now, the trail ends just north of St. Charles, where a 600-foot scour hole has halted efforts to connect to Machens.
