The first project to get off the ground in Christchurch's residential red zone will be officially opened today.
Evan Smith Photo: Rebecca O'Sullivan
The pathway along the Avon River will be celebrated by two groups, one starting at the city end and the other from the coastal end at 10.30am. They will meet at the midway point, at Kerrs Reach.
The trail was funded with a $50,000 grant from the Ministry of Social Development, as part of post-quake work to strengthen the stopbanks along the river.
One of the project's instigators, former red zone resident Evan Smith, said earlier this month that work was still being done on the trail to make it suitable for everyone, including wheelchairs and children's bikes.
Eventually, anyone who wanted to would be able to use the full 11km trail.
The public is currently being asked for feedback on ten options for what to do with the land in the red zone, whittled down from a list of 5000 ideas from the community.
The options include creating a lake, a golf course, cycle trails or building houses.
That last option has drawn criticism from former residents of the red zone, who said it was not fair to convert some of the land into residential areas after the poeple who used to live there were forced to move.