The elevated Veloway from Footscray to the city has hit the halfway mark, and a long stretch of the path is now connected.
A sense of the experience that will greet riders when it opens next year is now possible, and it's one of shock.
The perspective inside the structure is one of space – width, depth, distance, height – and the view into the distance seems endless.
The shimmering electric-green walls are semi-transparent, giving a great view over the Port of Melbourne outside, but also orientating and locating riders to their geographic position.
The assembled section is complete structurally, but work is ongoing to connect drainage and services, and to fit panels to gaps being used for access.
The stainless-steel mesh covering at the top, and the anti-slip coating on the floor are still to come.
Work on lifting and suspending the remaining panels has moved towards the city end, and will cross the traffic lanes below, requiring closures of Footscray Road to traffic.
Following those works, the construction team will move to the Footscray end where it will begin assembling slightly longer segments required for alignment in that zone.
Bicycle Network CEO, Alison McCormack, who inspected the Veloway last week, described the experience as “incredible".
“I never imagined it would be this attractive”, she says. “Despite being enclosed, it has the full-on care-free feeling that bike riders love.”
“I think riders in the west will find riding this route irresistible – it will be like a magnet pulling them to and from the city each day."
Check out Channel 9's coverage of the milestone here.
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