The $207M upgrade of a section of the Mickleham Road arterial in Greenvale announced in the State budget this week will also deliver desperately needed bike facilities.
Mickleham Road in Melbourne's far north just a few years ago was a country highway but now it carries 30,000 vehicles a day on some sections that still look like a country highway.
Some stretches of the road have primitive bike facilities while other have nothing, this in a suburb that is growing at a rapid pace with children ready to ride to local schools.
Last year money was provided for early works for the section between Somerton Road and Dellamore Boulevard and now the full upgrade with extra car lanes, traffic lights replacing roundabouts, and new bike paths has got the green light.
Recently the intersection with Craigieburn Road has been undergoing a major upgrade, which will add to the improvements just announced.
The Mickleham Road Upgrade proposes to:
- build extra lanes in each direction on Mickleham Road between Somerton Road and Dellamore Boulevard
- add new traffic lights in Greenvale at the Aitken College intersection
- replace the roundabout at Somerton Road and Mickleham Road with a new traffic light intersection
- upgrade the Hillview Road and Dellamore Boulevard intersections
- build new sections of walking and cycling path to improve connectivity along Mickleham Road both sides.
Earlier in the year the Federal Government announced it would contribute an additional $109.5M to the Mickleham Road upgrade.
This article was made possible by the support of Bicycle Network's members who enable us to make bike riding better in Australia.