This 15-kilometre off-road bicycle path will be built to connect Melbourne's booming western suburbs to the CBD, although it will be split by a 600-metre gap that bicycle advocacy groups says needs to be fixed as a priority.
Brimbank City Council has been commissioned to build the $4.8-million path.
It will be built in two sections:
The first section from Fitzgerald Road, Ardeer, via Forrest and Fraser streets, to Anderson Road in Sunshine.
The second section runs from Sunshine Station to Ashley Street, West Footscray.
The path will be three metres wide and include lighting.
Although the project has been widely welcomed, the 600-metre gap between Anderson Street and Sunshine Station, plus the West Footscray to the Maribyrnong River stage, which was not included, need to be funded.
Statistics from Bicycle Network in June reveal that the City of Brimbank recorded one of the highest growth rates in cycling.
The long-awaited project will be built as part of the Regional Rail Link project, which will run from West Werribee to Southern Cross Station. The $3.9-billion project is expected to remove bottlenecks on rail lines to Bendigo and Ballarat.
The funding will come from the Regional Rail Link Project.
Source: Western suburbs cyclists will get their own off-road path to the CBD, The Age