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Airport Rail re-aligns trail

The construction of the rail link to Melbourne Airport will require a realignment of the M80 ring road trail in Airport West.

Work is getting underway this month near the Westfield Drive ramps and will impact on the nearby trail.

There are major electricity transmission towers along the M80 corridor and six of these towers need relocating.

Ground investigations preceding the new tower construction are about to start and and involve an an access track from Westfield Drive.

Work will be underway from mid-May to install temporary detours and sections of the new permanent path.

Construction workers, vehicles and equipment will be on site.

Traffic controllers and signage will be in place at times as necessary to assist with pedestrian, bike and vehicle movements.

Work will be underway 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday and 7am to 1pm, Saturdays.

The trail will remain accessible.

Melbourne Airport Rail has decided to build the detour route as the new permanent realigned trail. There will be some temporary sections of trail at certain stages.

The towers are being relocated a only a short distance—about 25 metres, however the real purpose of the new towers is the lift the height of the wires.

The Airport Rail tracks will be elevated above the M80 so there need to be sufficient clearance between the train track’s electricity cables and the transmission lines overhead.

This article was made possible by the support of Bicycle Network's members who enable us to make bike riding better in Australia.