SCARBOROUGH — Past and present leaders of the Eastern Trail Alliance and Eastern Trail Management District as well as town officials approached 12 shovels stuck in a mound of dirt, golden blades glimmering in the sun.

On the count of three, each person filled their shovel with dirt and dumped it on the front of the mound. More than 50 people in attendance applauded, a much-awaited ground breaking ceremony for the Close the Gap project of the Eastern Trail.

Three weeks ago, construction began on the 1.6-mile section between Wainwright Athletic Complex and the Nonesuch River crossing, a $7 million project more than two decades in the making. Once completed, the trail will allow 16 miles of uninterrupted, off-road passage between downtown Saco and Bug Light Park in South Portland.

Town Manager Tom Hall said that the section between Pleasant Hill Road and Wainwright Athletic Complex is due to be completed by October 2026 at the latest, but based on how quickly Shaw Brothers, the contractors, are working, he estimated that it could be completed sooner.

That section is about 70% complete, and the construction company is waiting until Oct. 1 to clear the area on the remaining 2,000 feet.

The other section, between Pleasant Hill Road and the Nonesuch River, is due to be completed no later than October 2027. Hall thinks that this estimate is more realistic because this section requires the construction of bridges.

Speakers at the event expressed a sense of triumph about this momentous step for a project that has experienced so many delays and obstacles.

“It’s a lesson of patience and perseverance,” said Hall, the self-described “last man standing.” He is the fourth local administrator.

And there have been three executive directors of the Eastern Trail Management District since the project began. “The dream never disappeared,” said Ryan Sommer, president of the ETMD. “The push was always there.”

“It transforms how we move, how we connect and how we experience Maine’s natural beauty,” he added.

Carole Brush, former executive director of the ETA and ETMD, said the late John Andrews, the man who first had the idea for this project 28 years ago, would be “doing a jig” about it reaching this point.

What started as a dream in 2006 and a feasibility study 10 years later, a battle with permits and easements before and after the COVID-19 pandemic is “finally being pulled off,” she said. And the project faced a slew of challenges like re-permitting, a railroad sale and rising costs of labor and materials.

“It’s taken a village and years to get here,” she said.

April Sither, chair of the Town Council, expressed her excitement for the possibilities that come with transforming “two separate paths into a powerful corridor,” highlighting the opportunity for the path to be used as a commuting option for workers in Saco and Scarborough to go as far as Portland. And it’s an opportunity for recreation, encouraging new users to get outdoors, she said.

Attendees were also excited about the trail reaching one step closer to completion.

Tony Koester and Bill Hetzel, board members of the Eastern Trail Alliance, biked 26 miles along the Eastern Trail from Kennebunk to get to the ceremony.

“The next time we do this, there won’t be a gap,” Hetzel said. On their ride, they saw about 60 people using the trail, either walking, riding, birding or painting. “It’s an awesome display of public access,” he added.

And Dakota Hewlett, active transportation planner at the Maine Department of Transportation, said that the partnership formed between municipalities, nonprofits and governmental agencies to close the gap will “maybe help set the tone for other places to allow for a project of this magnitude.”

After the ceremony, Hall invited attendees to cross Pleasant Hill Road and walk down a portion of the newly constructed section of the trail, a taste of what’s to come. He paused in a shady spot by the bank of the Prout’s Pond as a few birds soared overhead. The water was still except for the splashes of a few golf balls from the nearby driving range.

“I think it’s worth the walk,” he said.