Bicycle Network: Where to Ride

Melbourne's Metro Trail Network (MTN)

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Harry Barber

The main off road bike network in Melbourne.

The 2002 plan committed to a vision of 1200 kilometres of shared trails to ensure that the wider community has access to open space.

Off-road shared trails, which are the primary focus for this strategy, link Melbourne’s significant areas of open space to local trails, recreational precincts and public transport.

"The trails are mainly located along waterways and easements and many traverse parklands and the foreshore. Trails are an important recreational venue in their own right, but are also an essential link between people and places.

Shared trails are not just bike trails; they are used for activities such as walking, inline skating and jogging. Provision of facilities for these activities results in improved personal health and can result in environmental health benefits, through either managing access in sensitive areas or improving environmental values adjacent to trails by incorporating them in overall design and development."

(Linking People and Spaces report, 2002, p. 13).

Listed below are some of Melbourne's metro trails:

Anniversary Outer Circle Trail

Bay Trail

Aligned along the coastline of Port Phillip Bay is the spectacular Bay Trail. Looking for a seaside ride? Then this trail is for you! If you choose to do the full length there's 69km of path to ride or alternatively, you may wish to break it into smaller sections.

Dandenong Creek Trail

Federation Trail - Werribee to Brooklyn

Gardiners Creek Trail

Main Yarra Trail

Maribyrnong River Trail

Merri Creek Trail

Moonee Ponds Creek Trail

Scotchman's Creek Trail

The MTN

The MTN is part of the Government's 2002 Strategy called Linking People and Spaces

Key Outcomes

In Linking People and Spaces more than 150 actions are defined in order to realise the vision based on the principles and objectives outlined.

The actions include planning and developing new parks; extensions to the metropolitan shared-use trail network;
upgrades of visitor facilities and supporting infrastructure in existing parks, waterways and coastal activity nodes; and expansion of
protected areas and urban land in public ownership.

Some of the key outcomes include:
• improving equity of access through provision of six new parks in Melbourne’s growth corridors, including Werribee, Melton, Hume/Whittlesea and Cranbourne
• completing gaps and extending shared-use trails to support recreation and commuter use, including the Main Yarra Trail, the Bay trail and Federation Trail, to create a 1200 kilometre network
• forming continuous open space links between areas of parkland along Melbourne’s foreshores and waterways, especially the western coastal foreshore of Port Phillip Bay, the Maribyrnong River, the Merri Creek and Frankston
• improving access to the foreshore, bays and major waterways through provision of recreational and berthing infrastructure at key activity nodes, including St Kilda, Sorrento and the Lower Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers
• setting priorities for vegetation protection, enhancement and restoration in line with the Port Phillip and Westernport Native Vegetation Plan