Alphington Link

Project update

We’re investing $9.1 million to develop and deliver a safe and direct walking and bike riding link for the Alphington community – The Alphington Link.

The Alphington Link will improve safety and connectivity to 660km of bike riding and walking routes across Melbourne.

We’ve updated our plans for the Alphington Link to better reflect the community’s preference for a more environmentally sensitive design. 

Background

We’ve been working through detailed planning and design to deliver this important link for the local community.

In 2018, we commenced community engagement on the project to inform the technical development of plans, designs, and options.

In 2021 we passed a necessary legislative amendment to enable compulsory acquisition of the land for the path. Wider community consultation took place on the proposed designs between 8 December 2021 and 31 January 2022.

Feedback from this consultation helped us develop designs to ensure the Alphington Link reflects the community’s needs.

The community told us they want a design that is sensitive to the environment, blends into the landscape and minimises construction impacts.

Since our last update, we’ve carried out extensive planning and development to understand the impact of the proposed Alphington Link bridge design.

Upon further investigation, we found that building a walking and bike riding path at ground level instead of a shared-use bridge would save trees and have less impact on the landscape.

The walking and bike riding path will blend better into the local landscape, and the construction will be faster, meaning less impact on residents and the golf club.

The path will still safely connect people from Farm Road to the Darebin Creek Trail via Latrobe Golf Club, removing the need to use busy Heidelberg Road to access the trail.

The updated path design

The new three-metre-wide walking and bike riding path will follow the same route as the previous bridge design from Farm Road to the Darebin Creek Trail through the Latrobe Golf Course.

Bike riders and pedestrians will be protected, and golfers who want to use the practice greens will have access.

The new design will include landscaping sensitive to the local area to ensure it blends with the environment. 

Next steps

We’ve started following the legislative process for acquiring the necessary land from the Latrobe Golf Club. The land acquisition is a two-part process and is expected to take at least a year.

Once we have access to the site, we can undertake the necessary survey activities before construction can commence.

We’ll work with Latrobe Golf Course and local residents while we finalise designs for the ground-level walking and bike riding path. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2026. 

About the Project

The Victorian Government is investing $9.1 million to plan and develop a safe and direct bike riding and walking link for the Alphington community – The Alphington Link.

The new off-road path will provide a 120-metre link to the Darebin Creek Trail and access to over 600km of bike riding and walking paths across Melbourne.

The link will start from Farm Road and connect in with the Darebin Creek Trail, ensuring the local community will no longer need to use busy Heidelberg Road to access the trail.

The link will include a new bike riding and walking path that will safely take bike riders and pedestrians through Latrobe Golf Club. 

Benefits of the Alphington Link

The Alphington Link will provide the local community with a safer and more direct route to the Darebin Creek Trail and 600km of bike riding and walking routes.

Improving walking and bike riding connections that enable more Victorians to walk or get on their bike for everyday trips, supports the climate change pledge of 25% active transport mode share by 2030.

Walking and bike riding paths benefit a broad demographic, including families, schoolchildren, older people, and people with disabilities.

Frequently asked questions

Why did you change the Alphington Link design from a bridge to a path?

When we took the proposed bridge to the community it was made clear that the community were keen to see a design that did not impact on the local environment more than necessary.

Upon further investigation, we found that building a path rather than the proposed bridge would save trees and have less impact on the landscape.

The new design will blend better into the local landscape, and construction will be faster and less impactful on residents and the golf club. 

Will trees be saved by building the path instead?

The updated design reduces the impact on trees and on other vegetation in the area.

Why did you select Farm Road as the preferred option?

We selected the Farm Road link as it is the most direct route for a walking and bike riding path to the Darebin Creek Trail that can be built without causing significant impacts on the creek environment or impeding the Darebin Creek floodplain. The Farm Road link is comparatively the shortest and lowest cost option, with other assessed options needing longer structures to be built to acceptable gradient standards.

Why was Old Heidelberg Road not used?

We considered several alignment options including accessing the trail via Old Heidelberg Road. This route was not preferred due to the technical constraints of the location requirements to make the path accessible for everyone to use and conflict between trail users, pedestrians and vehicles. This alignment would have heavily impacted the environment and flood plain.

Why has community feedback influenced the decision?

We’ve been investigating potential alignment options to connect the Alphington community to the Darebin Creek Trail since 2018.

To support these investigations, we formed a stakeholder reference group with representatives from community interest groups including local schools and the community coalition for the Darebin Creek Trail.

We’ve also worked with key stakeholders such as the Council, Alphington Grammar School, Melbourne Water, and Latrobe Golf Club throughout the project's development.

These key stakeholders preferred the alignment to be the safest and most direct route that ensured bike riders and pedestrians no longer needed to use busy Heidelberg Road.

Based on this feedback, the proposed option of a direct route from Farm Road, through Latrobe Golf Club to the Darebin Creek Trail will best meet the community's needs.

In December 2021, we presented our designs to the community at two online information sessions and invited the community to provide feedback on them.

The community preferred an environmentally sensitive design that blended in with the local environment. They also expressed concern about construction times and were keen to see construction duration and impacts minimised.

This led to further interrogation of the proposed designs and the change to a ground-level path which will have less impact on the environment and be less intrusive and faster to construct.

Read the feedback summary here [PDF 1.86 Mb].

Environmental assessment

Download the Flora & Fauna Assessment & Impact Analysis. 

Contact us

To find out more about the project please contact us.

Email: [email protected]