(ABC 6 News)- On Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources held an open house to discuss the expansion of the Blazing Star State Trail.

Construction of the trail will begin in the coming months to connect Albert Lea to Hayward.

— RELATED: Blazing Star State Trail begins construction in 2024 —

This comes after a nearly $4 million bid from Ulland Brothers was accepted. The construction will be done in three phases with the hopes of the trail being open to the public in the fall of 2025.

For Susan Blenka, this project is around 30 years in the making after she, along with a group of people, first pitched the idea for the trail to the DNR.

— RELATED: DNR open house on Blazing Star Trail next week —

“Looking back over the years it was a struggle but I think you sort of put your name on something and to see it through, I think it’s a great accomplishment,” said Blenka. “The big question is when are we going to get this done so we can ride our bikes on it? So I think everyone is really excited that we are at this point to get the trail done.”

The ultimate goal is to expand the trail all the way to Austin but no official project for that expansion has been started.