Construction has started on a separated walking and cycling path along one of the city's busiest western corridors.
The route is designed to give residents a safer way to move between two growing suburbs and the services they rely on, without sharing the road with traffic.
What is being built
The project is a 3.6 kilometre shared path along the Glenelg Highway, connecting Delacombe Town Centre with the Yarrowee River. Ground was broken on the works in September, as reported by The Courier.
The path will be fully separated from motor traffic, serving cyclists, pedestrians, families with prams and mobility scooter users. It runs between the busier parts of Delacombe and Sebastopol, linking into the existing Yarrowee River Trail.
The project forms part of the city's strategic cycling corridor work. It is being managed and delivered by the City of Ballarat, and the council's project page lists the intended benefits, including better active transport access to shopping centres, schools, kindergartens, medical centres and sporting facilities.
Image credit: Delacombe Town Centre by The Editer, sourced from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. The file page is available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Delacombe_Town_Centre.jpg.
The funding behind the path
The City of Ballarat's project page lists a total project investment of $8,836,000. It records an Australian Government contribution of $4,418,000 and a Victorian Government contribution of $4,418,000.
Coverage of the works reports a different figure. The Courier puts the construction value at $7.8 million. Its reporting describes a 50-50 funding arrangement between the council and the state government.
The council's published total and the figure reported in coverage of the works are both on the record.
For residents, the funding figures matter less than what they buy. The route is the part locals will use.
Safety works beyond the path
The package extends past the main walking and cycling route. It includes upgrades to existing crossings, pedestrian-operated signals and passive crossings of Smythes Road and Hertford Street, plus intersection modifications for safer pedestrian and bike crossings.
Bus stop modifications are included to improve accessibility, along with drainage improvements and raised shared user path crossings of side streets. Seating and refuge nodes will be installed along the route so users have places to pause.
Landscaping is part of the design too. The council lists tree planting and water sensitive urban design features, with tree replacement and pruning and mulching used to retain healthy existing trees while making way for shade planting.
What local riders say
Local cyclist Henry Singleton said dedicated infrastructure is the only reliable way to get more people riding. He described recent close calls and a near miss near his own home.
"You can't tell people to use active transport if there's no safe way to do it," Mr Singleton said.
He said the completed route would open up car-free travel across the city. "The amazing thing is that once this is built, you can get from Delacombe to the CBD or beyond without having to go on a road at all," he said. "Riding a bike gives you freedom, but only if the safe connections are there. You have to build it first."
The council and government view
Acting mayor Cr Ben Taylor said the project is central to how the city handles growth. "Safety is the big one," Cr Taylor said.
"As Ballarat continues to grow, this infrastructure is critical to creating connected communities," he said. "Having dedicated paths provides the safety people need to choose riding or walking over driving."
He also noted the city's transport network was largely set in the mining era, when cycling was not a planning priority. He said the goal now is to improve how the city works across every mode of transport, not only for cars.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the path gives residents options beyond driving. "Not everybody drives, and people need safe links between public transport, work, retail centres, and home," Ms King said.
Why it matters in this part of Ballarat
Census data shows both suburbs depend heavily on car travel. At the 2021 Census, 68.3 per cent of Sebastopol workers and 67.7 per cent of Delacombe workers drove a car to work. Sebastopol's population was 10,194 and Delacombe's was 5,408.
That combination of car dependence and rapid residential growth is the case for off-road connections. A separated path gives people who do not drive, or who would rather not, a practical alternative for short trips to shops, schools and medical appointments.
The route also sits inside the broader Ballarat cycling network, so it should improve access for riders travelling further into the city rather than only serving the two suburbs at either end.
The timing of the project reflects how growth has landed in the west of the city. Delacombe Town Centre opened as a retail hub for a corridor that was largely farmland a generation ago, and Sebastopol sits immediately alongside it. Connecting the two with a separated path addresses a gap that has widened as the population around it has increased.
The path is also intended to serve trips that are too short to justify driving and too far to walk comfortably. That is the category where safe cycling infrastructure tends to change behaviour most, because the alternative is usually a car rather than a longer walk.
A note on timing
No completion date has been confirmed in the sources reviewed for this article. The council states the project is being managed and delivered by the City of Ballarat, and residents wanting firm dates should watch the council's project page for updates as works progress.
Practical effects will become clearer as construction moves along the corridor. Temporary changes to parking, crossings and bus stops are typical on a project of this scale, and the corridor carries both local traffic and heavy vehicles. Anyone who regularly uses the route to reach the retail precinct should allow extra time while works are underway.
Readers who want to compare this part of the city with other Victorian towns and regions can start with the Victoria local guide, which covers how localities across the state are profiled.
Works Cited
Powell, Nick. "Works start on multimillion-dollar shared path offering safer transport options." The Courier, 12 Sept. 2026, https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/9348303/works-begin-for-78-million-shared-path-along-glenelg-highway/.
City of Ballarat. "Glenelg Highway Bike Path." City of Ballarat, n.d., https://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/city/projects/glenelg-highway-bike-path.
The Editer. "Delacombe Town Centre." Wikimedia Commons, 29 Aug. 2017, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Delacombe_Town_Centre.jpg.