Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Victorian Cycling Strategy Report Card: April 2010

I have become aware of an update from the government which now lists all the major projects related to cycling which has been completed or is about to commence. Standouts include the upcoming commencement of the operation of the Melbourne Bike Share system in a couple of months. A review of the system will be posted on MBR at that time. The Merri Creek Trail Pipe Bridge at Rushall was also officially opened on April 3, which should make life easier for inner northern suburb cyclists. A NearMap view from February 20 is shown below. You can also select other dates to see the construction.

View Large Map

This report card also reveals some new information. The new footbridge over the Maroondah Highway at Lilydale for the Warburton Rail Trail is set to be constructed in the second half of this year. You should notice improvements being made on the Gardiners Creek Trail around the middle of this year, after the M1 project has been completed for the Monash. The new extension of the Federation Trail is also set to commence construction in June, with the opening from Altona Road to Williamstown Road in early 2011. I just hope there is a bridge or tunnel across the freight railway line. It would be a big disappointment if there was a level bike crossing.

Click here for the report card!

Stay tuned as I will try to post more update and news in the future!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Not too much happening lately...

It seems to me that the cycling projects in my area have now dried up for the time being, which is disappointing because it leaves me nothing to comment about. The last thing to happen in my area was the shared path at Bayswater Station, which is now much better to ride through than before. I know they are still building new bridges on the Merri Creek Trail and the Werribee River Trail, and parts of the Capital City Trail and the Main Yarra Trail are being reconstructed, which is good. I believe the Capital City Trail needs to be minimum 3 metres wide, sealed, and fully grade separated at all major roads. Construction of the new section of the Mullum Mullum Creek Trail seems to have stalled. I now use NearMap to check on the progress of cycling infrastructure construction, as it is such high quality and so up to date (never more than about 1-2 months old, and sometimes as much as 2 weeks behind real time). I hope to post more entries on this blog in the future, but I just thought I would pop something on here to keep things moving along, although very slowly.