JesseThe Upfield bike path is going to be closed for at least a year between 2028 and 2030 while they do the Brunswick level crossings removals on the Upfield Train Line.
This means detouring the > 2500 people that use this path everyday down some side streets.
The more direct alternative is Sydney Rd which is 40km/h but a very busy shopping street, tram route and extension of the Hume Hwy (for people avoiding paying the toll on Citylink).
Sydney Rd has no cycling infrastructure.
The winding detour that has been detailed in the "Summary of Transport Provisions" document for the level crossing removal project goes down a bunch of relatively quiet side streets.
There is also some very...uhh...optimistic sections on busy 60km/h Brunswick Rd without any bicycle infrastructure and a few sections where riders will need to be be filtering in a narrow section between parked cars and cars waiting at the level crossing.
Just these sections make this detour high enough stress to put off a whole bunch of riders. This detour is not appropriate for children.
The detour is estimated to add 1km to the trip and 5mins. But that feels like a significant underestimate as many of the busy road crossings are awkward, have no infrastructure and will be more awkward with that many other cyclists adding extra time.
Matt