Federation Trail
| Federation Trail | |
|---|---|
Federation Trail near Werribee
|
|
| Length | Approx. 23 kilometres (14 mi) from Brooklyn to Werribee |
| Location | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Cycling details | |
| Trail difficulty | Easy |
| Hazards |
|
| Surface | Shared use, bitumen and gravel |
| Hills | None |
| Water | Infrequent |
| Connecting transport | |
| Train(s) | Werribee line (Werribee and Hoppers Crossing stations) |
| Bus | 232, 411, 412 |
The Federation Trail is a 23-kilometre-long (14 mi)shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which mainly follows the heritage-listed Main Outfall Sewer through the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. There are button-activated traffic light crossings at most major road-trail intersections.
For safety reasons, cyclists are no longer allowed to ride on the Princes Freeway (or any other urban freeway). The Federation Trail therefore is the preferred alternative route. West of Werribee, where the Federation Trail ends, Geelong cyclists may use the freeway shoulders, as it is then considered a rural freeway.
The trail was officially opened on 22 October 2006.
In 2010 work started on extending the trail from Millers Road to Williamstown Rd. Completion of stage 1 of the VicRoads Truck Action Plan should see the trail finally connected from Williamstown Road to the Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail on Hyde Street. In March 2011, work on the extension stopped completely, due to a change of government and troubles with funding and design of the bridge to Fogarty Avenue. Thirteen hundred metres of concrete path had been built which lay idle until November 2014, when the bridge was completed.
In November 2014, VicRoads announced that the trail has been extended from Millers Road to Fogarty Avenue in Yarraville with the completion of the 124-metre-long (407 ft) Brooklyn Bridge over the Brooklyn freight line. The next two stages include extending the trail to Williamstown Road and Hyde Street.
Much of the trail follows the historic reservation of the heritage listed Main Outfall Sewer which was built in the 1890s. At that time the sewer was the largest civil engineering project ever undertaken in Victoria. The associated pumping station can be found in the Scienceworks Museum complex. In recent years, the Greening the Pipeline initiative is exploring opportunities to transform the Main Outfall Sewer into a parkland to connect communities, and provide a unique space to meet, play and relax. This project is a partnership between Melbourne Water, Wyndham City Council, VicRoads and City West Water. The project is supported by Greening the West.
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