SACKETS HARBOR — After years of preparation and legal wrangling, two trail projects in the village are on the verge of fruition.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” said David W. Altieri, the village’s heritage area director who has overseen the development of the projects. “Both projects have taken longer than we could have ever thought.”

Work on the first project, an approximately quarter-mile stone-bed trail near the former site of Fort Pike, will begin this week. The trail will circle a park space off Backus Road.

The approximately $45,000 cost for the trail is being divided between the village and a matching heritage area grant from the state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Mr. Altieri said the trail will provide scenic views of the harbor and have signs explaining the fort’s significance during the War of 1812.

The village also will begin work soon on another trail dedicated to the war’s bicentennial. The larger stone-bed trail will travel about 3 miles through the village.

Mr. Altieri said the village was waiting for approval from the state Department of Transportation, which he said would be coming “any day now.”

The village has received $495,000 in federal grants to proceed with the project.

The trail projects have been in the works for two years, as village officials worked to ensure the village had ownership of the land that would be used in the trails.

Both projects are expected to be finished this summer.

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