Another leg of Austin's bike paths is officially open for business.

The path system now meanders through Austin for more than six miles. According to Dennis Bissen, an engineering technician with the city, it stretches 2.1 miles from Community Park to the Mill Pond, 2.1 miles from the Mill Pond to Todd Park, 1.3 miles from the Mill Pond to East Side Lake and takes a .9-mile loop around the Mill Pond.

"It's very, very exciting in our community to have these marvelous trails to just go all over," Austin Mayor Bonnie Rietz said.

Denny Maschka, director of the Austin Park, Recreation and Forestry Department called the trails "a great asset to the community."

City Council Member-At-Large Dick Chaffee agreed. "We've worked on the trail for six years and now that we have completed them, we can concentrate on the Blazing Star Trail and the Shooting Star Trail."

Amanda L. Rohde can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com