Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department staff hope to get started on Adrian's Island within the coming weeks.
Director Todd Spalding said the department's plan has been with the contractor for "some time now and we're patiently waiting on the prices back."
The hope, he said, is to start work on trails on the property in the next few weeks.
Work on the Bicentennial Bridge is slowing down to where the department can start its work, Spalding explained.
"We are as prepared as we possibly can be," he said.
Plans are also moving ahead on one of the unique features of the park.
Under the parks department's plan, the landing area around the bridge will have a seating area, hammock area and giant chess board.
For the seating area, part of the plan is to use remnants of the state Capitol from previous renovations around the green space.
Spalding said Bob Gilbert, with Bartlett & West, who was hired to develop the park plan has that material ready. Those additions are approved for the park.
The pieces are being stored until they can be placed on Adrian's Island.
"I think that'll be a neat item to the park," Spalding said. "We're going to get some neat things."
Adrian's Island is an area of about 30 acres of wetland and forest that runs between the Missouri River and Union Pacific Railroad, for about a mile from the Capitol to the Missouri State Penitentiary. Although it is called an island, it is only separated from the "mainland" by the railroad tracks.
The Bicentennial Bridge itself is a $3.5 million project.
Construction of the bridge, which will go from near the Capitol to the park, began in February. The 826-foot bridge will grant regular access to Adrian's Island, which is a roughly 30-acre stretch of forest and wetland.
While the start was delayed, and the bridge likely won't be ready for use by the state's bicentennial celebration in August, the city hopes to show off what has been completed.
"We're ready," Spalding said.