Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly keyed in the total the city would pay for the project. The total the city would fund is $1.02 million.

At the Grapevine City Council meeting Feb. 19, Public Works Director Bryan Beck presented the council with a project for the Cotton Belt Trail. The city plans to request funding for this project through a federal grant program.

The project will focus on two different parts of the same application. The first section is about a quarter-mile in length and follows the Texan Trail rail line from Texan Trail east to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport North Station, including the bridge over Texan Trail. The cost for this section is estimated at $1.8 million and will connect the trail from Grapevine to the airport north TEXRail station.

The second section is 1.86 miles in length and travels along the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Cotton Belt rail line from the DFW Airport North TEXRail Station to Coppell city limits. This would be done through a new, proposed DART rail station that would be built nearby the current DFW Airport North TEXRail station. The estimated costs for this part of the project is $1.6 million and would connect the trail to Coppell. If awarded the funds, Grapevine will give the $1.6 million to DART to complete this section of the Cotton Belt Trail project.

The necessary funding for both trail sections is estimated at $3.4 million, of which the city will match 20 percent. Council also granted a request for an additional $340,000 for the required design work for the project. The total the city would fund is $1.02 million.

Mayor William D. Tate said the trail would be built 12-feet wide to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists. If these sections are built, he said the Cotton Belt Trail would stretch more than 50 miles.

A local cycling club sent 25 letters of support to City Council expressing enthusiasm for the extension of the trail. The request to submit the application for the funding passed unanimously.