The vital next stage of the bike route connecting central Geelong to the southern suburbs is approaching final approval after years of frustrating delay.
Planned in 2017, approved and announced in 2018, funded in 2019, and regrettably stalled ever since, the Southern Link project now has one final hurdle to leap.
Part of an innovative $6.3M funding initiative by the TAC for two strategic cycling corridors, the Southern Link has been delayed so long it has had to go to tender again to account for cost inflation.
The final approval goes before the council next month. Before it does Geelong City is seeking community feedback on the completed first stage of the project.
Make sure you have your say here.
The City is also hosting an information pop-up to answer your questions about the Southern Link next Monday 23 May at the Belmont Library between 2.30 - 7pm. Drop in any time.
Although the designs for Stage Two have been long in development and are mature, have been previously been through consultation, and have already been approved by the council, political opportunists will probably try again to stymie the project.
Inevitably, there has been opposition from some traders along the route in Belmont whom, like traders all over the world, think all their customers use the parking space outside their front door.
Investigations by the council have demonstrated that Belmont has a massive supply of car parking only minutes walk from the traders, and that at any given moment more than 100 spaces are vacant.
Geelong is no longer a provincial backwater. It has a powerful vision of becoming a thoroughly contemporary city with the environment and healthy lifestyle to match.
Active transport will be a major contributor to that future and the community must ensure that the Southern Link is not further delayed.
Visit City of Greater Geelong's consultation page here
This article was made possible by the support of Bicycle Network's members who enable us to make bike riding better in Australia.