One of the final pieces of preparation for the Blazing Star Trail’s extension has become a reality.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced last week an additional $500,000 has been allocated from the 2011 bonding appropriations to state trails toward the project, which will ensure a 1,900-foot, pile-driven bridge across Albert Lea Lake and an extension to the east side of Hayward.

“Having the additional $500,000 allocated to the bridge project is very good news,” said Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Susie Petersen. “The community is looking forward to the day this project is complete to Hayward.”

The trail currently ends at the Myre-Big Island State Park.

Petersen said she received an update about the project from Mike Hansen, the mayor of Hayward.

A meeting to update the community and the Blazing Star Trail Joint Powers Board will be scheduled for the end of September, where officials hope to have a draft of the bridge design.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials have told Hansen that land acquisitions and easements are in the process. Soil borings of the Albert Lea Lake bed should be executed sometime in August, while limited design of the bridge is ongoing.

The Legislature first authorized the existence of the Blazing Star Trail in 1996. Initial funding came in 1998, and it took five years to finish land deals so the trail could be built into Myre-Big Island State Park. The city of Hayward built a restroom in 2003, in anticipation of the trail bringing tourists.

In 2005, the state Legislature authorized $1.47 million in the bonding bill, with the aim of getting the trail to Hayward. That funding had a five-year spending deadline, but during the 2010 legislative session, the Legislature extended the deadline to June 2014.

Some of that funding went to purchasing about 20 acres that will make up about three miles of the trail. Some will go toward the work on the trail itself.

The Shooting Star Trail near Austin also received $500,000 in state funding to complete a stretch of trail between Rose Creek and Adams. Earlier this summer, that trail was paved with gravel using a $450,000 grant through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

The goal is to eventually connect the trail with Austin’s trail system.