Day by day, week by week, a lovely, fresh stretch of wide concrete path goes unused.
Any day now, moss will start to grow on the section of the Footscray Road shared trail near Appleton Dock Road.
It hasn’t carried a single bike since it was poured.
As you ride down the long ramp from the docks entrance you can see it ahead, clear and inviting.
Your bike wheel seems to be steering you right onto it, only to swerve away at the last second, where an impassable barrier blocks the way.
Such disappointment.
The whole distance from the Appleton Dock Road ramp to the Maribyrnong River is complete except for a few metres.
The world waits for CitiPower.
Once they wave their wand, that little box thing in the picture above will be removed, the concrete goes down, and the bikes will start rolling.
But the wand is late with the waving. Very late.
Meanwhile, a multi billion dollar project twiddles its thumbs.
This path untravelled is part of the West Gate Tunnel Project.
It will be the permanent replacement for the existing ground level Footscray Road path which has to be moved for the construction of the elevated road above, and the elevated Veloway for bikes that will give riders a crossing free route to the city.
This short section needs to be fixed before the full switchover to the new path can be made.
Let’s hope CitiPower can find the switch.
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