End of the road: The walking and cycling track ends suddenly at this Breen Ave intersection and users of the track are then required to go “cross country” before rejoining the five-kilometre path.
Frustrated by decade-long delays and lack of action, outdoor enthusiasts are calling for completion of the one-kilometre “missing link” in Kyabram’s dual cycling-walking path, 10 years after it opened.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Local bike-riders, joggers and walkers will this week petition Campaspe Shire Council, asking it to fast-track completion of the five-kilometre shared pathway around the town’s southern outskirts.
The major part of the track was constructed along Lake Rd, South Boundary Rd and Cooma Rd in 2013.
At the time, it was expected the final section along the railway line in Breen Ave would be completed within 18 months, pending approval from Victoria’s transport infrastructure authority VicTrack — which owns the land.
But 10 years later, it appears that approval still has not been obtained and the pathway remains unfinished.
To complete the circuit, users must trek through long grass and loose gravel between the road and railway line, or walk/ride on the bitumen road with cars passing them at speeds of up to 100kmh.
Recently-returned Kyabram resident Sandra Brown, a keen bushwalker and cyclist, initiated the petition after experiencing for herself the dangers involved in riding along the unfinished section.
“Walking through the long grass and gravel wasn’t too much of a problem because I do a lot of bushwalking,” she said.
“But when I recently took up cycling, it was a different matter altogether.
“I’m no mountain-biker, so the rough terrain was difficult to negotiate.
“And it was too dangerous to ride on the road. The bitumen is only wide enough for two cars to pass each other and has both 80 and 100kph speed zones along its length.
“I ended up riding on the wrong side of the road, facing the traffic, so I could see what was coming towards me, and had to get off the road each time a car approached.
“It was a nerve-wracking experience and I didn’t feel safe at all.”
Kyabram resident Jacci Leek drives along Breen Ave after work each afternoon and said she felt anxious whenever she overtook mothers pushing babies in strollers along the edge of the road or family groups with young kids and dogs.
“I’ve seen dogs off-leash running next to their humans on the road’s edge,” Jacci said.
“I always slow down and veer to the other side of the road, but it really is an unsettling feeling driving past those walkers.”
Sharing the road: Cyclists, pedestrians and motorists operate within close proximity on the stretch of the road which is yet to be completed by the Campaspe shire.
Jacci said she had also taken her own young children to ride their bikes along Breen Ave once — but once only because it was too dangerous.
“I hope they finish the pathway soon, so everyone can get out and enjoy it.”
Sandra had aimed to collect about 100 signatures before submitting the petition to council.
“But a lot of people commented on how dangerous the Breen Ave section was and how keen they were to see the pathway completed, so I probably could have kept going and collected 1000 signatures without too much trouble,” she said.
In its August 2022 newsletter, Campaspe Shire announced that funding to complete the dual pathway had been allocated in the current budget, giving some hope that the project might be delivered soon.
But Allan Weeks of the Kyabram-Deakin Residents and Ratepayers Development Group has seen it all before.
“Money for the project has been allocated in the council’s budget for the past two or three years, but still nothing has happened,” he pointed out.
Another local organisation, the Kyabram Development Group chaired by Tania Chiswell, has been liaising with council and VicTrack in an effort to get some action happening on the pathway.
Meanwhile, the Campaspe Shire Council’s website states that the development of a “dual cycling/walking trail along the north side of Breen Ave from Cooma Rd to Allan St” is due for completion by June 30, 2023 — less than six months away.
Attempts to contact the Campaspe Shire’s project manager last week for an update on its progress were unsuccessful.
Residents can still add their names to the petition at Bennett’s Intersport store in Allan St, Kyabram, until the end of this week.
“We need a strong show of community support to try and push this issue along,” Sandra said.
