Walkers, runners and bikers can go a little further down the line this year as the extension to the East Side Lake trail will continue as planned.

Construction begins this spring and will extend the trail for about a half-mile, starting from the parking lot east of the lake, Public Works Director Jon Erichson said.

It is funded by a $15,000 grant from the Hormel Foundation and requires the city to match with labor for excavation and paving.

The existing project will be finished, but funding for future projects is not likely due to the city's current budget situation. Nothing is scheduled to be done anytime soon.

"We have no projects funded at this point," Erichson said. "The next trail we applied for a grant for is the Wildwood link."

The federal money from that grant wouldn't come through until 2006 or 2007. It's about $300,000 and would require a 20 percent match from the city. The council approved an application for the grant at a recent meeting.

The Wildwood link would extend the section of trail that currently ends at Todd Park in north Austin. Wildwood Park is southeast of there, and the link to it would be about a mile and a half.

Erichson said that decisions about which trail to extend and where they go is based primarily on existing land structures. The Todd Park trail, for example, follows old railroad tracks and the Cedar River trail takes advantage of land reclaimed through flood grants.

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by email at :mailto:matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com