A 26-mile recreational path in Detroit received a boost Thursday with a $2 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.

The money will be used to fund the design and preconstruction of the unfinished portions of the loop, according to a news release from the city.

Called the Inner Circle Greenway, the nonmotorized path connects the city's neighborhoods, parks, commercial corridors, the riverfront and downtown.

"Thanks to the Wilson Foundation, the city of Detroit is one step closer to getting a network of greenways that will take Detroiters from Eight Mile to the riverfront and everywhere in between," Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement.

Last month, the city entered an agreement to buy 76 acres from Conrail Inc. for $4.3 million to fill the biggest gap in the trail. The Detroit-based rail service provider's property will become a 7.5-mile section of pathway along the Detroit Terminal Railroad.

A request for proposals for framework designers will be sent in late summer, while surveys and community engagement will begin in the fall and wrap up in the spring. Green infrastructure, as well as connections to public assets and transportation, will be considered in the framework design.

The greenway framework will include recommendations for land use and zoning, green infrastructure, connections to public assets such as parks, way-finding, and thoughtful intersection with local and regional multimodal transportation routes such as the Iron Belle Trail, SMART bus network and the new Gordie Howe International Bridge.

"With a careful and thoughtful design that ties together and connects the entire 26-mile greenway, residents will not only have better access to recreation, but also to more goods and services, and educational and employment opportunities," said David Egner, president and CEO of the Grosse Pointe-based Wilson Foundation.

The trail is expected be done by fall 2019 and cost $25 million, according to the project website.