Footscray Road green bridge opens in Docklands after West Gate Tunnel works

Geoff King, 83, was among the first to cycle across the Footscray Road bridge with the Banyule Bicycle User Group on Tuesday.

“It was like riding through a disco,” he said. “At the [traffic] lights [before the crossing was built], you had to wait quite a while, so it’s an improvement on that.”

However, critics of the project, including the BikeWest group, have previously accused the government of “playing politics” by delaying opening infrastructure they say is vital for public safety.

While Vairo enjoyed his cycle along the Footscray Road crossing, he said the section had always been one of the better parts of his ride into the city before the West Gate Tunnel construction.

He said truck-filled suburban streets further west remained a big safety problem for cyclists.

“It is a postcard for incredible photos, but it’s not what we would have done,” Vairo said of the new bridge.

“Our advocacy now is: we’ve got this thing, let’s create connections to it. So people from the suburbs – from Yarraville, West Footscray and further afield – can get to this bit of infrastructure safely.”

Vairo said he was more excited about the Dynon Road crossing opening soon, as it created a new corridor over rail lines.

“That is a brand-new bit of infrastructure that gives people new ways to go to the city safely,” he said. “That one’s fantastic, very underrated.”

Vairo remained critical of the West Gate Tunnel’s impact on cyclist safety in Melbourne west, and blames construction works for creating a dangerous Footscray Road intersection where 22-year-old cyclist Angus Collins died in February 2024.

However, Ned Watson, a 41-year-old from Brunswick who was cycling with his child on Tuesday, said the new bridge had made his trip to a school holiday show safer.

“It was pretty awesome,” he said. “I think normally we’d have to go through all those traffic crossings down there [on Footscray Road].”

Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said the new bridge was “a big step towards transforming the corridor into an elevated cycling super-highway between the city and the west”.