Vision 2020 and Prairie Vision organizers finally have a plan to finish the Shooting Star Trail. They just need $2.5 million to do it.

The vaunted bike trail that will connect Austin to LeRoy has nine miles of trail left to put down before it’s complete, according to county engineer Mike Hanson. Hanson showed plans for the trail segment — which goes along County Road 56 before jutting west on County Road 58 to connect to Austin — Monday to area organizers.

“It’ll connect to the whole city system via the Interstate bridge,” Hanson said.

It will take about $2.5 million to lay the rest of the trail down, and organizers must have funding in place before the county can finish its work, according to Hanson.

The funding will largely be up to the state Legislature, according to Vision 2020 Bike/Walk Trails Committee Co-Chair Steven Kime. Kime hopes local legislators, who also heard the presentation on Monday, can help get bonding dollars for Mower County during the upcoming session.

“That will be the key, I think, if we can get that, and this is a bonding year,” Kime said.

Once funding is in place, Hanson is confident the county can get the Shooting Star Trail done within two years.

The project first started in 1998. Hanson, who has been with the county since that time, said it would be good to get the project finished. He credits Prairie Vision and all the other organizers who have helped put the trail together for sticking with the project.

“There was a lot of people that worked on this to get it to where it is now, and they’re all appreciated,” he said.