ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) -- As southwest Fort Wayne prepares to add another stretch of trail to the existing miles of interwoven paths, some of those who spearheaded the push for more trails in the area are amazed at the progress that has been made. "When you sit down 20 years ago and think about what things could be, I don't we even ever envisioned anything like this," said Bill Zielke, former vice president and fundraising chairman for Aboite New Trails, a nonprofit that used to raise money for trails in southwest Allen County. On Tuesday, Fort Wayne Trails will host a groundbreaking ceremony for a new trailhead along the Covington Road Trail, which will also receive a 0.9-mile extension. The trail resides in southwest Fort Wayne -- an area where Zielke and Lynn Reecer, co-founder and former president of Aboite New Trails, spent nearly a decade working to add connective trails. Reecer first had the idea to start Aboite New Trails after visiting the Monon Trail in Indianapolis and seeing what it provided for the city and its residents. "It was just amazing the first time I stepped foot on it," Reecer said. "It just was like, 'oh, I wish we had this in Fort Wayne.'" However, the turning point came in 2001 when a longtime friend died after being struck by an impaired driver while riding his bike along the roadside. After that, she became more determined to make her goal a reality. "It kind of turned into a need versus a want," Reecer said. After co-founding Aboite New Trails in 2003, Reecer worked alongside Zielke, Stephanie Schultz and several board members to raise $12 million from 2003 to 2010 for 20 miles of trail that helped connect southwest Allen County with the Rivergreenway and other existing trails. A brochure from Aboite New Trails, a nonprofit that worked to add trails in southwest Allen County until merging with two other groups in 2011 to form Fort Wayne Trails. Their journey was not without obstacles as the organization navigated fundraising, working with city officials to work around government issues and convincing residents that trails would be beneficial for the community. "There were people who didn't want the trails at all because they thought it would invade privacy and that people would be driving by their front yards," Zielke said. "Kind of interesting over time, when you would look at other communities that had trails, it became a selling point for the neighborhood, not a negative." Reecer chalked up those concerns to people being worried about change, but she and Zielke believe many residents now recognize the benefits of having trails. "I think people see the economic value to it," Zielke said. "There are a lot of employers here in town who bring people in from places other than Fort Wayne, and they want to show them that there's a great standard of living here." Eventually, Aboite New Trails merged with two likeminded organizations within Allen County -- The Rivergreenway Consortium and Northwest Allen Trails -- to form Fort Wayne Trails, which works with the City of Fort Wayne to advocate and raise money for trails. Other than volunteer work, Reecer said she has not been involved with Fort Wayne Trails since the merger, but she will be joining the organization in 2025 as a board member. Currently, the Covington Road Trail stretches 4.1 miles from West Hamilton to Hadley roads, but the project will extend the trail to Getz Road and connect it to Time Corners and Covington Plaza. The trailhead will be located at 7014 Covington Road in southwest Fort Wayne. The groundbreaking ceremony for the trailhead will be held Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 5:00 p.m. at the future site. The project is expected to be finished by spring 2025, according to the City of Fort Wayne's Public Works Division.