View source for Upfield Bike Path

{{Short description|Bike path along Upfield railway line}}
{{how-to|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
__NOTOC__
{{Infobox cycling path
| name =Upfield Rail Trail
| photo =[[File:Upfield-Bike-Path-and-railway-line-looking-south-towards-Tinning-Street.jpg|250px]]
| photo_size =
| photo_alt =
| caption =The Upfield Bike Path in [[Brunswick, Victoria|Brunswick]]
| length =Approx 8.6 km
| location =  [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria, Australia]]  
| difficulty =Easy
| hills =Flat
| hazards =Numerous Road crossings. People exiting stations. Forklifts.
| water =
| surface =Bitumen path
| train = [[Upfield railway line]]
| tram = 
| bus = 
| parking = 
}}

The '''Upfield Shared Path''' is a shared use path for [[cycling|cyclists]] and [[pedestrian]]s, which follows [[Upfield railway line]] through the inner northern suburbs of [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria, Australia]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://maps.vicroads.vic.gov.au/website/bikes2b/viewer.htm |title=VicRoads - Bicycle Facilities Map |access-date=2007-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219141453/http://maps.vicroads.vic.gov.au/website/bikes2b/viewer.htm |archive-date=2007-02-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.bigyak.net.au/trails/biketrails.html?ll=-37.752132,144.962217&z=13&t=p Melbourne and Geelong's shared paths in Google Maps]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bigyak.net.au/bike/bike.html#melgel |title=Melbourne and Geelong's shared paths in Google Earth |access-date=13 June 2007 |archive-date=12 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012073245/http://www.bigyak.net.au/bike/bike.html#melgel |url-status=dead }}</ref>

It stretches from [[Princes Park, Carlton|Princes Park]], through [[Brunswick, Victoria|Brunswick]] and [[Coburg, Victoria|Coburg]], to Box Forest Road, [[Fawkner]], just south of [[Gowrie railway station]]. It was originally opened in the late 1980s.

Missing links have been progressively filled with the work between Hope Street and [[Anstey railway station]] in Brunswick completed in August 2002. A section between Reynard and O'Hea Streets in Coburg with a signalled crossing at [[State (Bell/Springvale) Highway|Bell Street]] was completed by 2006 by City of Moreland (now [[City of Merri-bek]]) Council and [[VicRoads]]. An extension to Box Forest Road was completed in September 2008.

An interactive map of the trail as well as others in the Melbourne area is available [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1McdnnNhn1TTHe38AtknMHmf1OU2GqdrF&usp=sharing here].

==Following the path==
[[File:Junction of Upfield shared path and Inner Circle rail trail.jpg|left|thumb|The southern end of the Upfield shared path to the left, branching off the [[Capital City Trail]] which continues to the right.]]
The southern end of the Upfield Bike Path connects to the [[Capital City Trail]] on the old [[Inner Circle railway line]] reservation which provides access to the [[Merri Creek Trail]] at [[Rushall railway station]]; and in the other direction it passes near the [[Melbourne Zoo]] before connecting with the [[Moonee Ponds Creek Trail]].

Alternatively, at Park Street cyclists can join the Royal Parade bike path and on road bike lane which provides access to [[University of Melbourne]] main campus in [[Parkville, Victoria|Parkville]].

City of Moreland Council has reported the number of people counted riding on the Upfield Bike Path and [[Sydney Road]] at Park Street has almost quadrupled from 1992 to 2003. The 24-hour weekday average was 804 in 
February 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/BicyclesPedestrians/DevelopingBicycleNetworks/CyclingDataAndStatistics.htm |title=VicRoads - cycling statistics |access-date=2008-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429191010/http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/BicyclesPedestrians/DevelopingBicycleNetworks/CyclingDataAndStatistics.htm |archive-date=2008-04-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Upfield path parallels Sydney Road shopping strip in [[Brunswick, Victoria|Brunswick]] and [[Coburg, Victoria|Coburg]], and is often used by pedestrians and cyclists for shopping, dog walking as well as commuter cycling.

Historic buildings along the path include the [[Brunswick Baths]] at Dawson Street and the Railway Hotel (now a Backpackers Hostel) at Albert Street, Brunswick.

==Landmarks==
[[Upfield railway line]], [[Melbourne Zoo]].

==Solar lighting at Fawkner Cemetery==
The section passing the Fawkner Cemetery was upgraded in February 2009 to include the world's first shared-pathway, solar lighting schema. Stonnington City Council introduced solar lighting on the [[Gardiners Creek Trail]] in May 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://treadly.net/2007/05/05/clear-for-take-off-on-the-gardiners-creek-trail/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014181244/http://treadly.net/2007/05/05/clear-for-take-off-on-the-gardiners-creek-trail/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=14 October 2007 |title = Clear for take-off on the Gardiners Creek Trail : Treadly and Me}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/4_Jun_2007_Lighting_the_way_to_a_safe_ride_home.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=16 September 2009 |archive-date=27 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927024510/http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/4_Jun_2007_Lighting_the_way_to_a_safe_ride_home.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> However they did not make use of a color schema as seen on the Upfield Bike path.

Previously the path was without lights and unfriendly to riders. The new array of red LED on the left and white LED on the right, creates a delineated [[Visual Approach Slope Indicator#Mnemonics|"airport runway"]] style, visually stunning, lighting grid, providing up to 600 meters of visible pathway for riders, even at the darkest hours. Hazards are indicated using amber LED.

For safety, the lights are mounted flush with the ground where they absorb more than enough energy, stored in their environmentally friendly [[supercapacitors|super capacitors]] during daylight, to provide up to 14 hours of continuous lighting.

==Connections==
*The path comes to a dead end in the north at Box Forest Road at [[Fawkner Cemetery]].
*It meets the [[Capital City Trail]] in the south.

The [[Western Ring Road Trail]] is 1.4&nbsp;km to the north, up Sydney Road, from the most northerly end of the trail.

North end at {{coord|37.719074|S|144.961295|E}}.
South end at {{coord|37.780251|S|144.957067|E}}.

==Cultural references==
Upfield Bike Path is the name and subject matter of a song by Melbourne indie band ''Huon''. The track appears on the compilation album ''Kraftworks''.<ref>[http://www.virtual.net.au/~awithy/huon.htm Huon] appears on the compilation album ''[http://spill-label.org/kraftworks.php Kraftworks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517212817/http://spill-label.org/kraftworks.php |date=17 May 2008 }}'', which is published by the ''Spill'' label and contains various interpretations of Kraftwerk tracks performed at a show at the [[Empress Hotel, Fitzroy North]] on 27 November 1999 by various indie Australian musicians.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
*''Bike rides around Melbourne'' 3rd edition, 2009, Julia Blunden, Open Spaces Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0-9752333-4-4}}
* ''Bike Paths Victoria'' sixth edition, 2004. Edited and published by Sabey & Associates pp132. {{ISBN|0-9579591-1-7}}

{{Bicycle Trails in Melbourne}}

[[Category:Bike paths in Melbourne]]