A series of upgrades to bike routes in Melbourne’s western suburbs are ready to explore.
The new and improved routes have been delivered over several years as part of the western roads upgrade by Major Roads Projects Victoria.
You may have followed the progress of some of these improvements on these pages, especially the new bridges along the Federation Trail, but other, less known routes have been vastly improved.
The State Government calculates that there is about 50km on upgraded riding and walking facilities in place.
The Federation Trail is clearly a highlight connecting Werribee to Brooklyn, with 14km of further upgrades through Brooklyn, Yarraville and Footscray to the city being delivered by the West Gate Tunnel Project over the next few years.
Three new walking and cycling bridges over the Palmers Road, Leakes Road and Dohertys Road have removed at grade crossings, saving up to 10 minutes on travelling times.
The Trail will also benefit from a series of greening projects that eventually will create linear parks along the route.
The trail links Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Williams Landing and Laverton North, and connects to upgraded Duncans, Forsyth, Palmers, Leakes and Dohertys roads interchanges and cycling paths.
Riders in Point Cook have better connections to Williams Landing and Truganina on the shared paths along Palmers and Dunnings roads, which are separated from the road for much of the route.
This path also connects you to Williams Landing Station for the train to the city.
From Williams Landing you can continue to the Federation Trail, or to the business and freight employment hubs in Truganina or Derrimut via the separated shared paths along Palmers Road.
Between Tarneit and Truganina there are upgraded paths along Derrimut and Leakes roads in Tarneit connect you to Tarneit Station, where you can catch a train to the city or Geelong.
From Tarneit, you can also take the dedicated bike paths along Leakes Road towards the city to get to Williams Landing, or onto the Federation Trail.
These arterial roads are through areas that were once, and in some cases still are, empty paddocks, and they are barren and windswept in places.
However, trees are planted, and the neighbouring suburbs are growing rapidly with residential, retail and industrial uses.
You can download the full map here.
Please note that the Federation Trail is temporarily closed between Banfield Court and Palmers Road until 5pm Wednesday 15 March 2022 for Leakes T&P sewer works. But the detour takes you along some of these new shared paths you might want to explore.