Western Freeway
The Western Freeway runs from the end of Milton Road in Toowong out to Carole Park, becoming the Centenary Highway at Moggill Road. At the Toowong end it connects to Coronation Drive via Sylvan Road, and also meets the end of Mt Coot-tha's Sir Samuel Griffith Drive. It has a parallel bikeway that runs from Toowong out to Julie Road in Carole Park, almost entirely exclusive bike path the whole way.
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Access points
- Dean St / Anzac Park, Toowong
- Taringa Pde (at Equinox St), Indooroopilly
- Julie St, Indooroopilly
- Moore Park, Indooroopilly
- Moggill Road, Indoooroopilly
- Witton Road, Indooroopilly
- Boundary Road, Indooroopilly
- Rainforest Park (off-road), Fig Tree Pocket
- Fig Tree Pocket Road, Fig Tree Pocket
- Norman St, Fig Tree Pocket
- Spinkbrae Street, Fig Tree Pocket
- Sinnamon Road, Jindalee
- Capitol Dr, Jindalee
- Dandenong Rd, Mt Ommaney
- Mt Ommaney Centre (Dandenong Rd end of top commuter car park), Mt Ommaney
- Mt Ommaney Centre (behind hardware store), Mt Ommaney
- Mt Ommaney Centre (via road that connects to Andaman St), Mt Ommaney
- Jagarra Pl (via underpass to rear of hardware store), Sinnamon Park
- Glenn Ross Rd (via underpass to rear of hardware store), Sinnamon Park
- Andaman St (between Ebrill St and Laptev Cl), Jamboree Heights
- Sumners Road, Jamboree Heights
- Bullockhead Street and Jijaws Street, Sumner Park
- Warrender Road, Darra
- Kokoda Street, Darra. To use the pathway under the Ipswich Motorway, outbound cyclists should go right at the end of the cycleway and then go left at the T intersection with Kokoda Street and head west for approximately 200 metres before joining the path that runs alongside the creek on the left. Alternatively, riders can turn left from the cycleway and continue west for around 400 metres and then take the road left under the Ipswich Motorway and then turn left to join Bakery Road
- Bakery Road, Darra where the path is a bike lane on the road until resuming on the west side of the Centenary Motorway at the intersection of Kelliner Road and Boundary Road, Richlands.
- Kelliner Road and Freeman Road, Richlands
- Richlands Railway Station, Richlands
- Progress Road, Richlands, approximately 50 metres after the Richlands Railway Station. Note at this point, to continue south to Carole Park, riders will need to turn left and head east over the railway line and Centenary Motorway. If they continue south, the path will terminate 650 metres south of this point at Cardwell Street, Forest Lake after passing an access point at Government Road, Richlands
- continuing south after crossing over the railway line and the Centenary Motorway, the path is continually accessible from Clendon Street, Wacol until the Bullockhead Creek crossing around 700 metres south of Progress Road
- Julie Road, Carole Park (end of bikeway)
Riders should note that the path currently (as at 11/2/2011) terminates in an abrupt T-intersection with Julie Road, under the north east corner of the Centenary Motorway/Logan Motorway interchange. The road is two way with no markings. Heading east (right) will take you to Boundary Road via John Street and a left at Michael Street. Heading west (left) will take you under an overpass to the intersection of Julie Road, Roxell Street and Considine Street. A right on to Considine Street will bring you to Grand Avenue, Forest Lake.
The Toowong end
- For a more technical discussion of this route, see North Toowong corridor
Travelling inbound the bike path ends in Anzac Park in Toowong, with an intersection with Dean Street opposite the council bus depot. Cyclists cross the road there and are required to proceed through the car park on the left to reach Miskin Street.
Crossing Miskin Street, just next to a major roundabout, is no great joy. Cars often queue across the crossing to enter the roundabout (despite the "keep clear" directive on the road), and cars leaving the roundabout often do so at speed. Cyclists heading outbound will need to look almost directly behind them for traffic leaving the roundabout, so stopping completely is advisable. There is a small traffic island in the middle of the road, but it's not as wide as a bike is long, so rely on it with care.
A short section of shared path joins Miskin Street to Sylvan Road. Heading inbound, cyclists can choose to cross the road at the intersection of Sylvan Road and Milton Road, but will need to look for traffic leaving Sylvan Road (approaching from the right), traffic entering it from Milton Road outbound (approaching from ahead) and traffic entering from Milton Road inbound (approaching from behind). A safer option is to proceed further around to the right, and enter Sylvan Road further from the intersection. The line markings on the path are misleading, but don't take the first ramp; that's for outbound cyclists only, and inbound cyclists using it cause a hazard to themselves and others. Instead, keep following the path until it terminates at Norwood Street, and enter Sylvan Road by turning right out of this road. That section of path is signed as a separated path, but the yellow markings on the ground make it far from clear where pedestrians and cyclists in either direction should be. Whichever direction you use this section of path in, watch out for other path users.
The rest of Sylvan Road is quite pleasant, with bike lanes the length of it all the way down to Coronation Drive and the Bicentennial Bikeway.
Using the road
Cycling on the Western Freeway and Centenary Highway is permitted. Most of the road has sufficient shoulders for cycling, with exceptions noted below.
Inbound
The Centenary Bridge has no shoulder. There is space on the side of the bridge that forms a kind of sealed path, but it is a poor surface.
Outbound
Again, the Centenary Bridge itself has no shoulder, but the approach is downhill so at least a cyclist on the road will have a bit of extra speed. After Fig Tree Pocket Road there is no opportunity to get off the road until after the Centenary Bridge.
History
The bike path was opened on May, 1998 [1], albeit without the section from Fig Tree Pocket Road to the Centenary Bridge. The route at the time ran along Fig Tree Pocket Road to Kenmore Road then turned down the infamous Spinkbrae Street, which connected to the shared path across the Centenary Bridge. Construction on the missing section lasted from December 2004 [2] to September 2006, delayed by a change in contractors responsible for building it.
Following the opening of the new section the path connecting Spinkbrae Street to the bridge was been closed for further work, but reopened some time later.
