Imagine riding on bike trails from Bendigo to Mansfield. From Ballarat to Shepparton, perhaps? It might not be as farfetched as you think.
Over 90% of Australia’s rail trails are scattered across Victoria. For the Friends of Bendigo-Kilmore Rail Trail (FBKRT) Group, it has been simply a case of connecting the dots.
“The idea just morphed,” says Lindsay Clay, Chair of the FBKRT Planning Team. The group formed in 2009 with the aim of restoring the O’Keefe Rail Trail, which at the time only ran from Bendigo to Axedale.
With time, the group found themselves exploring the trail’s extension to Kilmore. Extending the trail further towards Wallan started to look plausible. And with time, the group started pondering ‘what is stopping the rail trail from being connected with the Merri Creek Trail in Melbourne’?
This gradual process of pinpointing logical connections between existing trails has ultimately culminated in the group’s ‘rail trail network’ vision.
Of course, a number of popular but more remote rail trails have not been included in the network, such as the Murray-to-Mountains, Great Southern and East Gippsland Rail Trails.
Nevertheless, this network would provide hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres of rideable trail. And all within a 150 km radius of Melbourne.
“A web of trails through central Victoria has the potential of attracting Victorian, interstate and overseas tourists like you wouldn’t believe,” Lindsay tells us, “and this benefit will be spread among all the towns, both big and small, along the way”.
So where do we start? In the group’s opinion, the critical first step is building the Wallan to Heathcote Rail Trail, a 78km extension of the O’Keefe Rail Trail (red dashed line in the map below).
If funding is secured, the delivery could be relatively straight forward. A 2017 feasibility study outlined the strategic merit of the project, concluding that the economic benefits ($23.1 million) outweigh the costs.
“Mitchell Shire, through which most of the W2HRT traverses, is nominally the lead agency in getting the Wallan to Heathcote Rail Trail built,” says Lindsay, “however, whilst it supports the project, it does not appear to have the financial capacity (or the staff resources available) to do the necessary planning to attract government funding. Because of the statewide significance of the project I believe that the State Government should assist with this planning.”
Bicycle Network recommended the state government invest in the Wallan to Heathcote Rail Trail in its 2022/23 Victorian Budget Submission.
What is exciting is that there’s parts of the map already taking shape. A prospective rail trail between Castlemaine and Maryborough, marked as a ‘future’ project on the map, is already on the cards. In mid-2022 funding was secured to conduct a feasibility study for the rail trail, the critical first step for new infrastructure projects.
As with most transport projects, the roll out will take time and is subject to thorough planning and consultation.
But it is coming increasingly clear that Victoria’s rail trails are valuable tourism assets with massive economic return. The Murray-to-Mountains Rail Trail, for example, accommodates over 300,000 visitors each year and generates over $1 million for local economies.
The FBKRT Group’s map is an exciting glimpse into what our state’s regional bike network could look like for tourists and local commuters alike.
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