Fair enough too, the construction works took much longer than advertised and the detours provided didn’t make for enjoyable riding!!

But the trail was finally opened back in mid-September and I have been enjoying the new path ever since.

The gravel track between Boronia Road and the Koomba Park Boardwalk has been replaced with a wide concrete path, a number of sharp turns have been smoothed out and the trail signage has been significantly increased. This has greatly improved this section of the Dandenong Creek trail. Fantastic work!!!

The fact that Thiess John Holland originally slated the Trail closure for only three weeks:

as of Friday 15 June, theKoomba 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

gave me hope that I wouldn’t have to push my treadly along the detour (which runs along the very busy Wantirna Rd and Mountain Hwy) for too long!

However, as reported in the Knox Leader by Will Jackson on 24 July

Cold snap hinders work on new bicycle paths

Cyclists are getting anxious about when the new bicycle paths will be completed.
Wet weather has delayed the construction of new cycle trails in Wantirna’s Koomba Park.

Now I guess I can put up with this – after all the good June and July rains have been great for drought-stricken Melbourne, and to their credit Thiess John Holland have been providing regular email updates on the construction works and anticipated opening date.

But the promised opening date continues to be pushed back and the nice new concrete shared path remains fenced off…

while cyclist and pedestrains continue to negotiate the detour along major roads.

This short section along the verge of Mountain Hwy near the entrance to the Koomba Park carpark is particularly hair-raising in peak hour traffic!!

According to Thiess John Holland:

Parks Victoria still won’t let us open the trail due to a grey area concerning liability.

While Parks Victoria says:

The Koomba Park area is still an active work site, Safety and security for the site is the responsibility of TJH. As the site is the responsibility of TJH the decision to open sections of the path lies with TJH. Parks Victoria will not be responsible for the site until all works are complete.

Meanwhile the regular users of the Dandenong Creek trail in Koomba Park continue to wait, with the lastest from Thiess John Holland:

We understand your frustration at having to use the detour route. At this point in time it is possible that the path will remain closed until some time around mid-August.

Too right, I’m frustrated – Grrrrrrrr!!!

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 look 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 :-)

The State Government is slapping a 3m-wide concrete bike path through the Mullum Mullum Valley, which it has spent millions protecting.

Hmm, I think “slapping” doesn’t really reflect the level of community engagement that’s clearly gone on here. To me it sounds like a fairly comprehensive consultation and review process was carried out. The Chairman of the Yarran Dheran Advisory Committee—while obviously opposed to it—is quoted in the article as saying that his organisation is generally positive about the plan.

And it should be pointed out that Bicycle Victoria considers this a reasonable compromise also:

The chosen alignment is not the most desirable one for bike riders as it does have some sections of up to 100 metres in length that are steep. It also has one short section that will narrow to 2.4 metres to avoid significant vegetation.

And I find myself in the rare position of agreeing with some SEITA propaganda, when it points out that

A formal pathway route will also discourage use of the many foot tracks which currently weave across the valley, impacting sensitive vegetation.

I’m also a bit surprised that more isn’t being made of how a 3m wide sealed path could also improve access to the area for people with disabilities and mobility problems.

This same fact sheet shows the route through the Valley, which can only be described as meandering—hardly what you’d expect if it had just been haphazardly “slapped” down there.

It’s been years since I’ve been to Yarran Dheran and I’m not really across the issues in respect of Eastlink, but this just seems so much like a beat-up to me. The Maroondah Leader article concludes:

Former transport minister Peter Batchelor said in October last year that tunnels were dug under the valley [to accommodate the Eastlink motorway]—at an estimated cost of $100 million—because “this area is very unusual and worth protecting”.

I think Mr Batchelor was right—it is a significant area of urban bushland. But to suggest that the impact of a meandering 3m-wide path is in any way comparable to the a multi-lane motorway is ludicrous. Conspiracy theorists may want to believe that there is an anti-cyclist agenda being pushed by News Corp all the way down to your local rag (especially when you consider this publication’s unfavourable coverage of the proposed Wantirna Road bike lanes last year). But far more likely, journalist Jan Harkin was just looking for a nice juicy angle for the story.