SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
Path gets green light By Serena Seyfort A three-year campaign for a safer cycling and pedestrian crossing between Sunbury and Diggers Rest has been realised. The state government will fund a $1.1 million 500-metre shared path on the western side of Vineyard Road and the Calder Freeway overpass. Sunbury and Diggers Rest Bicycle Users Group member Hector Bugeja said the group had been calling for this “key bit of infrastructure” to be fixed for three years. “There’s huge development going on all around there but you can’t cross the freeway,” Mr Bugeja said. “Why build a pathway that then stops before the bridge?” The VicRoads-managed path currently ends at Moore Road, about 200 metres short of the Calder Freeway overpass, forcing cyclists and pedestrians heading for Diggers Rest to cross onto the road. Mr Bugeja said the first time he crossed the overpass he didn’t feel comfortable taking the same route home. “I was appalled, the trucks were so close to us,” he said. Mr Bugeja said the death of a cyclist on Vineyard Road the next day had reinforced the need for better cycling safety and “shocked [him] into action”. The group spokesperson and Sunbury resident said the new connecting path would be “a great start” to improving Sunbury’s cycling infrastructure. “I reckon this is the start of the start,” Mr Bugeja said. “There is a need for council to get serious about provision of bike markings on roads, and filling the various gaps in our current bike network.” Work on the path is expected to begin early next year.
(Shawn Smits)
Hector Bugeja is thrilled about the new shared path for Sunbury. (Shawn Smits)
Golden days of music Pupils at Sunbury’s Red Rock Christian College are eagerly rehearsing for the school’s first musical. The entire school is working towards the curtain raising on More Than Gold later this month. Teacher Miss Barclay, who has co-ordinated rehearsals, said she had “loved seeing kids try something new, and seeing many students realise gifts they didn’t know they had”. The musical features three stories inspired by a search for gold, taken from pages of the Scripture. There will be a matinee and an evening show on Friday, September 15, at Gisborne Church of Christ, 31 Saunders Road, New Gisborne. Tickets are $5 for an adult and $2 for under 18s. Bookings: bit.ly/2gkQbeq TIFFANY AND VICTOR
Serena Seyfort