The Federation Trail from Melbourne to Werribee will be rebuilt with several outstanding new bridges across major arterial roads.
The upgrade will make the popular trail much safer, and remove the lengthy wait sometimes required to get across the busy roads.
Through an area experiencing rapid population growth, and the proposed development of new employment precincts, the upgrade will help attract more locals into active commuting and healthy recreational riding.
The trail, which mostly runs along the route of the historic former outfall sewer, was one of Victoria’s first major bike infrastructure projects, certainly deserves upgrading to contemporary standards.
The new bridges will be provided as part of the State Government’s Western Roads Upgrade project, a $1.8 billion boost to eight arterials needed to cope with the phenomenal growth in Melbourne’s West.
The Western Roads Upgrade will deliver a combination of road widening, duplications and intersection upgrades including:
- Dunnings Road and Palmers Road, Point Cook Road to Princes Freeway, Point Cook
- Palmers Road, Princes Freeway to Western Freeway, Truganina
- Derrimut Road, Sayers Road to Dohertys Road, Tarneit
- Leakes Road, Fitzgerald Road to Derrimut Road, Truganina
- Dohertys Road, Fitzgerald Road to Grieve Parade, Laverton North
- Dohertys Road Foundation Road to Palmers Road, Truganina
- Forsyth Road/Princes Freeway, Hoppers Crossing
- Duncans Road/Princes Freeway interchange, Werribee/Werribee South
The arterial upgrades will also include off-road bike infrastructure.
In an Australian-first, the public-private partnership will also extend to road maintenance – ensuring more than 260 kilometres of the existing arterial road network in the western suburbs, and the Federation Trail, is maintained over the next two decades.
While this work is going on at the Western end of the Federation Trail, The West Gate Tunnel project will be completing the trail at the eastern end where is reaches the city under the West Gate Bridge.
Victorian Treasurer and Member for Werribee, Tim Pallas, said: “The west is booming, growing faster than almost any other part of Australia – that’s why we’re investing in these critical upgrades to keep our community and our economy moving.”
Netflow consortium has been selected as the preferred tenderer, and subject to final negotiations, work will begin next year and be completed in 2021.
The Netflow consortium is a Cintra and Plenary joint venture – as project sponsor, with WBHO Infrastructure as design and construction lead, and Ferrovial Services companies as services contractor.