Bendigo Low Line

The Bendigo Low Line is part of the Bendigo Creek Trail which links Kangaroo Flat to Epsom, a distance of almost 20km. 

It is a 4.4km shared pathway located within the Bendigo Creek channel between Maple Street, Golden Square and Weeroona Avenue, and White Hills to provide safe and active off-road travel through the Bendigo city centre. 

It will fill a missing central gap in the trail between Golden Square and Lake Weeroona, where people riding bikes must travel on busy roads through central Bendigo. It is also critical to connecting other public space corridors and strategic walking-cycling paths across urban Bendigo to encourage more active travel.

It will repurpose and evolve the Bendigo Creek to support a key strategic active transport corridor for 95,000 people who live within 5km of the Bendigo Creek.

Importantly, the Low Line will connect to local schools and many of Bendigo’s major recreational, business and tourism attractions, including Rosalind Park, Golden Dragon Museum, Central Deborah Gold Mine, Lake Weeroona, Golden Square Recreation Reserve and Bendigo city centre, and provide a vital link to other existing and planned trails.

Importantly it will provide residents and visitors safe off-road access to the Bendigo city centre to enjoy a range of activities and events.

The project will feature:

• A new shared pathway in the Bendigo Creek channel
• A total of 14 entry/exit points (nine new and five existing) that connect to surrounding footpaths and streets
• Landscaped public spaces with seating at some entry and exit points
• Construction of retaining walls and drainage
• Lighting and wayfinding, directional and safety signage

Works will include:

• Construction of shared pathway in the creek bed
• Construction of nine new entry/exit ramps that connect to surrounding footpaths and roads
• Construction of retaining walls and drainage
• Establishment of public spaces, including seating, lighting and landscaping

The project is a key Council priority action identified in six strategies, including:

• The Climate Change and Environment Strategy 2021-2026
• Reimagining Bendigo Creek Plan 2020
• The Bendigo City Centre Plan 2020
• Greater Bendigo Public Space Plan 2019
• Walk Cycle Greater Bendigo 2019
• Connecting Greater Bendigo: Integrated Transport and Land Use Strategy 2015 

The project also aligns with the Victorian Government’s Victorian Cycling Strategy 2018-2028.

The Bendigo Low Line has been named to reflect the channel section of the Bendigo Creek and takes inspiration from the cultural and creative success of New York’s High Line.

The New York High Line is a public park built on a disused 1.45-mile-long elevated rail structure on Manhattan’s West Side. As a freight rail line, the High Line was in operation from 1934 to 1980. The High Line was founded by neighbourhood residents in 1999 to prevent the elevated rail track from being demolished.

The Bendigo Low Line:

• Fills a key missing section of the Bendigo Creek Trail
• Will repurpose and evolve the Bendigo Creek to support a key strategic active transport corridor for 95,000 people who live within 5km of the Bendigo Creek
• Completes a major project identified in six Council strategies
• Has strong community support
• Will provide a major separated walking-cycling route through the Bendigo city centre
• Will improve community access and liveability, and increase community pride and connection to the Bendigo Creek
• Will support travel to and from events taking place in the Bendigo city centre
• Will support safe travel to local schools
• Will enhance current projects being undertaken in the Bendigo city centre to allow people riding bikes to move around safely
• Will reduce traffic by providing sustainable active transport options

The Bendigo Low Line project is funded by a $5M grant from the Victorian Government and in excess of $2M from the City of Greater Bendigo.

The Bendigo Low Line will have a total of 14 (5 existing and 9 new) entry and exit points located at:

• Maple Street (new)
• Wade Street (existing)
• High Street (existing)
• Hargreaves Street (existing)
• Violet Street (new)
• Vine Street (new)
• Edwards Street (new)
• Rosalind Park - View Street (new)
• Farmers Lane (new)
• Havelock Street (new)
• Bendigo Creek/Back Creek intersection (new)
• Nolan Street (new)
• Lake Weeroona (existing)
• Weeroona Avenue (existing)

Yes. Landscaping will vary at each entry/exit point and will depend on the space available, maintenance requirements and available budget. Some entry/exit points will feature grass and limited plantings while others will be more extensively landscaped to match the existing surroundings. A small pocket park will be installed at the Edwards Street entry/exit point.

Entry and exit points will be located no more than every 500 metres on the Low Line so you will never be far away from one. There will also be wayfinding and safety signage erected along the entire length of the Low Line to direct users to the closest exit point in the event of rain or flooding.

Yes. Lighting will be installed along the Low Line as it is important for users to feel safe. Lighting is an important and key safety aspect of the project to enable it to be used by people, day and night. The lighting will be designed to minimise impacts on wildlife.

For many years now, the City of Greater Bendigo has been strategically working to plan, develop and deliver a network of interconnected, shared walking and cycling pathways to help people move safely around Greater Bendigo. Importantly, the Low Line will provide a key connection to other existing and planned bike and walking trails.

The City already has approximately 118.5 kilometres of pathways in its protected walking and cycling network with more to come in the future to create a fully connected and accessible network located within 500 metres for 90 per cent of houses within urban Bendigo.

In 2019 Council adopted a Walk, Cycle Greater Bendigo Strategy which details a number of priority future projects to grow the network and fill in the parts that are currently missing by building new sections of paths to provide priority access for users especially at road crossings that are often difficult to cross, while also continuing to improve the existing network.

The priority projects were selected because they will provide great connections to schools, places of employment and community facilities. However, all the priority projects will require a significant investment from the City and other funding partners, including the Victorian and Australian Governments to deliver.

Other high priority future projects include:

• Mundy Street Protected Path: from Back Creek to Rosalind Park with pedestrian lights to cross at Myers and McCrae Streets
• Ironbark Gully Trail: a 3km shared path trail link between the existing Long Gully Trail and the Bendigo Creek Trail from Nolan Street North Bendigo to Eaglehawk Road Ironbark
• Design of Eaglehawk to Long Gully Link: from Long Gully Trail near Bendigo Showgrounds to Canterbury Park Eaglehawk
• Edwards Road Shared Path Link: a 1.4km shared path along Edwards Road from Calder Highway, Maiden Gully

For more information

The City is committed to protecting our unique heritage and is working with Heritage Victoria to develop a suitable treatment for the bluestone.

Work is due to commence before the end of 2024 with an expected completion in 2026.

Yes. As each section is completed, the community can begin using it. Completed sections will be promoted by the City as they become available for use.

The only section of the Low Line that will not be in the actual creek bed will be a small, approximately 600metre long section, located between the new Rosalind Park ramp and the new Farmers Lane ramp in the Chinese Precinct. Users will need to access the existing shared pathway alongside the creek in Rosalind Park in this section of the Low Line.