Chatham-Kent council is approving another $530,000 for the Round the River Route trail along Riverview Line and Grande River Line.
The money is meant to help the project complete the first part of construction between Chatham and Pain Court before 2018.
Cyclist Jerome Trudell from Chatham feels it's a key project for the municipality.
"This community needs to progress and move forward," says Trudell. "Realizing there's capital cost to these initiatives and we're all taxpayers in this municipality, but we also have to start to look customarily what we've been familiar with."
Volunteer Chair of the Chatham-Kent Trails Council Dianne Flook says the trail could be built in time for the International Plowing Match.
"We'd like to showcase our wonderful community and this would certainly do it," says Flook. "This can be a win-win for Chatham, for all the land owners, for walkers, for families."
Council heard some opposition to the project arguing the money would be better spent repairing roads and bridge.
Trudell thinks it's a project Chatham-Kent needs to move forward on to attract residents and tourists.
"We see other communities moving forward with this in mind. It's an attraction for industry I mean to bring people to the community to see that we can offer something that's comparable with other municipalities," says Trudell.
The $530,000 is in addition to $758,000 approved from municipal coffers and provincial funding. The Round the River Route has some corporate backing as Greenfield Specialty Alcohols has committed $250,000 in funding towards the project over five years.
