A proposed community bike path is on the road to construction. The town must now meet with the state Department of Transportation to discuss plans for what will be called the Wareham Community Pathway.

"The next step is coming up with a design plan," said David Smith, president of the Friends of the Wareham Community Pathway, a nonprofit organization helping to raise money for and awareness about the path. The town's Bike Path Committee, which provides pathway advice to the Board of Selectmen, cannot legally solicit funds for the project.

Smith presented a letter to Town Administrator Mark Andrews from the state Highway Department during the January 25 Board of Selectmen meeting. The Highway Department confirmed receipt of necessary supporting documents for the proposed pathway, and suggested a future meeting between the project's stakeholders. Andrews said he is "in the process" of organizing the meeting, which would include Andrews, members of the town's Bike Path Committee, and representatives from the Department of Transportation.

The 12-mile community pathway would cost approximately $3.8 million to complete, but 90 percent of the bill would be covered by various methods of state and federal funding, leaving the town to come up with approximately $385,000. Town Meeting has already appropriated $200,000 to cover the cost of the design plan, according to Smith.

The proposed pathway could connect Wareham to a future pathway in Marion, as well as to the existing Cape Cod Canal pathway in Bourne, but would require cyclists to share roads with vehicles in some areas, according to a Wareham Community Pathway feasibility study.

Weston & Sampson, which completed the feasibility study, recommended that the pathway begin at Blackmore Pond Road in West Wareham along an abandoned rail-bed corridor, then head north to Fearing Hill Road, connect to Main Street or Merchants Way, continue on Sandwich Road and Minot Avenue, and head to Onset Avenue through Onset Village to Cranberry Highway and into Bourne.

Pathway users would have to share roads with vehicles on Main Street, portions of Onset Avenue, and on Cranberry Highway. Weston & Sampson representatives pointed out that users who are nervous about cycling or walking around vehicles could use a section of the pathway that does not require road-sharing.

For more information about the Wareham Community Pathway, visit www.warehambikepath.com.