As part of the Eastlink development, a section of the Dandenong Creek trial is being upgraded to form part of the shared path associated with the Mitcham to Frankston tollway (as I mentioned last year).
A short section of the bitumen path east of Boronia road was resurfaced a couple of months ago and this is very nice (thank you very much!) Now the major works on the Dandenong Creek trail has commenced this week. The construction works involve replacing the existing gravel path between Boronia Road and the Koomba Park Boardwalk with a concrete path. This will greatly improve this section of the trail and I am really looking forward to riding the upgrade.
However, it will bring some inconvenience to cyclists and pedestrains during construction.
According to a Southern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA) Communications Officer:
To construct the shared use path as part of the EastLink project, Thiess John Holland (the construction contractors of EastLink) will be required to divert some of the paths around the construction site. These paths will not be closed and cyclists and pedestrians will still be able to use them. However, you will need to observe the necessary shared use path diversion signs and follow the designated routes, which will be highlighted via signage, around the construction sites.
So at least Thiess John Holland are providing detours, but as you can see from these images, the detours are of such poor quality that the expectation is cyclists should dismount and walk the current 2.5km (approx) detour—yeah right!
Thiess John Holland have patched up the worst parts of the detour so it is rideable but it is already starting to get chopped up and if we get a bit of rain it will quickly turn into a quagmire at the Eastern end—which is just an old grass/dirt 4WD track.
More concerning is the detours will only be available for part of the construction phase of the new shared path, and for a period of three week the trail will be completely closed!!
Now this is going to be a major inconvenience since my fellow commuters and I regularly ride to work on this route. Although signage advising alternate routes is promised, there are few options for these routes and most will involve cycling on major roads (Boronia Road and Mountain Hwy) or traversing the many (steep) hills and dales of Vermont (eg. via Morack Rd).
While I'm looking forward to the end result, the coming weeks will be trying and difficult riding. Hopefully the weather will hold and the shared path upgrade will run ahead of schedule.
And then the drought can break :-)
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Update: As predicted, the eastern end of the detour has turned into a quagmire after the rain we had in Melbourne last week!! But bouquets to Thiess John Holland as gravel has been spread over this part of the 4WD drive track detour over the past couple of days. Whilst this surface is a bit loose and soft to ride on, it is much better than the chopped up slush that was almost unrideable earlier in the week.
Bike path construction rolls on...... Just received this email from Thiess John Holland: Please be advised that as of Friday 15 June, the Koomba Park carpark on Boronia Road (melways Map 63 D4/5) and the main trail between Boronia Road and Mountain Highway will be closed for three weeks while the remainder of the new shared use path is constructed.
Signage will be posted advising of the closure dates as well as suggested detour routes for cyclists.
Unfortunately the detour routes suggested involve traveling on busy major roads (Wantirna Rd & Mountain Hwy) with limited bike lane or off-road options. Oh well, at least it's only for a few weeks - no pain, no gain!