A multi-million-dollar project to upgrade bike infrastructure in Melbourne's west has wrapped up.
New bridges and off-road paths have been constructed on arterial routes that fill in gaps in the network, making riding less risky and more attractive.
The improvements were delivered as part of the $1.8 billion Western Roads Upgrade.
The project was primarily designed to bring additional freight and movement capacity to the burgeoning western suburbs, where residential and logistics industry growth has out-stripped the road network.
In accordance with Victorian Government policy, new bike infrastructure was included in the project.
The Federation Trail has been significantly improved with three new walking and cycling bridges over Leakes Road, Dohertys Road and the Palmers Road/Sayers Road intersection.
These new bridges also interconnect with new and existing shared paths along the arterials that are crossed over.
These bridges don't only benefit riders and walkers. Because they replace traffic signals, people and freight movement also benefits from less stopping and starting.
The project also delivered more than 50km of new shared paths along the upgraded arterials roads.
The paths are on both sides of the arterials in some places and sometimes just one side.
They provide quick and direct routes across the west and will be a boon to local workers, residents and students as the region grows in the coming years.
Part of the upgrade includes a 20-year maintenance contract guaranteeing the care of 260 kilometres of state roads in the region.
The Federation Trail is supposed to be one of those, however it seems to have disappeared from the published list. An error, surely.
By a quirk of history, the Federation Trail is actual a 'declared road', and as such was originally included in the maintenance contract.
