Westport has won a state grant to help further a small part of the South Coast Bikeway, a planned 50-mile system of bike paths, lanes and multi-use paths that when built out will run from Rhode Island to Cape Cod.

The $65,906 MassTrails grant, received from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, will pay for preliminary route engineering along the stretch planned for Westport — the Westport Quequechan Connector Trail, which extends from the current end of the Quequechan Trail at the Fall River line to a safe crossing near Sanford Road.

Town planner Michael Burris said the town will pay a $10,000 match and contribute other in-kind services in return for the grant. The funds were requested by the town and Westport Bike and Walking Path Committee, as well as several other town boards, as preliminary work needs to be paid for in done in order to have the project placed on the Mass DOT’s TIP (Transportation Improvement Plan), a list of state infrastructural projects prepared every year.

“This is a major win for Westport,” Burris said. “It reflects our community’s dedication to sustainable development and active transportation.”

The South Coast Bikeway has been in the planning stages for years, and Bette Low, of the bike and walking path committee, said the state funds come at a welcome time.

“We are excited to begin this journey,” she said.

For more information on the grant, see the Westport website, www.westport-ma.com/bikewalking-path-committee