It's early days, but commuters taking St Georges Road route to the city will have spied in the early morning light the shiny ribbon of fresh concrete that has began its steady march along the water pipeline corridor.
And its not only the path that is growing: the first of the trees that will eventually rise, spread and shade the path environment, are now in the ground.
Although Melbourne Water is still laying pipe along the corridor, the works are well underway and look like being completed close to schedule.
The wide path should be a great ride and will lure more riders into making the trip to the inner city, although it will be some years before the plantings mature to add a special touch to the commute.
Regrettably, there is still no resolution to the issue concerning the risky, unsignalised road crossings that Melbourne Water had agreed to close before Darebin Council went cool on the idea.
But other enhancements could off-set this disappointment: Bicycle Network continues to argue for a better solution for riders at the beginning of the path at the southern end, which VicRoads should be able to resolve.
Meanwhile there will be some closures of then path soon.
In early to mid-September there will be short-term, localised closures of the shared path at Showers Street and Arthurton Road to enable the completion of final connections to the existing water main.
While the dates are yet to be determined, each of these closures will be over a weekend, from Friday night until Monday morning.
Detour routes will be in place for cyclists and pedestrians.
To facilitate other connections between the new M40 water main and the local pipe network, there will be additional minor diversions along St Georges Road.
And as Melbourne Water prepares to transition pedestrians and cyclists onto the new shared path in late September, it will be holding information sessions. See the flyer here for the location, dates/times.