It's been over 18 months now since funding was announced by the State Government to complete the cycleway between the two towns.

In February last year $2.18 million was promised to link the existing paths with a new one from Florence Wilmont Dr in the Kingsworth Estate to Nursery Rd in North Macksville.

While building a bike path might seem fairly straight-forward to the uninitiated, Council has said there were a few tricky things to consider - like creek crossings, construction of retaining walls and acquisition of land adjacent to the old highway.

But the good news is that the days of having to ride the gauntlet are coming to an end; work is expected to start by the end of this year.

Tender submissions are ready to go to Council for approval for stages one and three of the link.

"The project includes but is not limited to the construction of a reinforced concrete cycleway, earthworks, drainage, safety barriers, handrails, retaining walls, line-marking and other features in accord with the tender documentation," Council's manager technical services Keith Williams said.

"We'd expect to see work commencing some time in November, once the successful tenderer has been announced and they've pencilled in to their works program."

Unfortunately the land for stage two is still being negotiated. This part of the old highway is notorious for its lack of shoulders, and farm boundaries almost flush with the bitumen.

A separate tender will be held for this section of pathway.

Council said the good news though, is that once these minor issues are resolved construction work will move fairly quickly along this stretch with no retaining walls or water crossings to deal with.

In all likelihood it'll be a smooth ride from Nambucca to Macksville by this time next year.

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