Work has started on the latest Suffolk leg of a paved trail that will stretch from downtown Suffolk to the Virginia Beach oceanfront.

Eventually, the Seaboard Coastline trail will be 11.5 miles long, said Helen Gabriel, assistant director of Suffolk Parks and Recreation.

It will be part of the South Hampton Roads Trail, which will journey through the cities of Suffolk, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. Also proposed is a spur heading north along the Elizabeth River from downtown Norfolk.

“The whole goal is … if I get on my bike at the (Suffolk Seaboard) train station, I can ride my bike to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach on a paved path off the road, with very minimal riding on the road,” Gabriel said.

Crews are currently working on a 10-foot-wide, paved trail between Driver and Shoulders Hill Road near Bob White Lane — a distance of 2.3 miles. It’s expected to be ready for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles including wheelchairs this summer, Gabriel said.

The next section in Suffolk will continue from Shoulders Hill Road to Town Point Road — about a mile — bringing the regional project to the Chesapeake line. Both sections together will cost $2.3 million, Gabriel estimated.

But, as funding becomes available, sections remain to be completed in the other direction: between Moore Avenue and Suburban Drive; Suburban Drive and Nansemond Parkway; and Nansemond Parkway and Driver. That remaining 8.2 miles will cost an estimated $11 million, Gabriel said.

The project is mostly being funded with federal grants, Gabriel said, with some local money for match requirements.

Each city gives a progress update during quarterly meetings of a committee for the regional trail project, Gabriel said.

As of January, two sections on the western end of the regional trail outside Suffolk — a combined 5.3 miles in length — were scheduled for completion in fall 2016. Remaining sections in Norfolk and Virginia Beach — a combined 16.2 miles — are still in the pipeline.

Much of the trail in Suffolk follows an abandoned rail bed. Gabriel said the project is generating a lot of local interest.

“In Suffolk, with the push for healthy and active living, the timing is perfect,” she said.

“The citizens are excited.”

Gabriel noted that the project, which also includes picnic tables and benches, is fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.