Bikes take a hike for trail

By Monique Ebrington
A NEW survey has pushed the Warburton Advancement League into action, with cyclists highlighting improvements needed to the Warburton Rail Trail.
WAL members surveyed 105 cyclists in the main street of Warburton over the course of a month.
Questions were designed to find what demographic used the trail the most, how often they used the trail each year, what they did when they reached Warburton and an estimate on how much cyclists spent in the township.
WAL spokesperson Kerry Nicholas said WAL members were aware of the significant economic benefit that cycling could bring to the town.
“We were looking at an economic survey of rail trails and that alerted us to the fact that different rail trails had different potential and we wondered that was the potential here,” Mrs Nicholas said.
“We wanted to know what people were coming to Warburton and what sort of money were they spending in town.”
She said survey results showed that cyclists wanted to see more drinking water stops along the trail, bike parking in townships and informative signage about the region.
Mrs Nicholas said there were also requests, through the survey, for more off-road trails for younger riders.
She said WAL members would meet with shire representatives and Parks Victoria to discuss the feasibility of the suggested improvements to the Warburton Rail Trail.
“The overall plan is for the development of Warburton as a hub and for biking activity,” she said.
“There’s potential there to attract families, the Sunday afternoon riders, the speedsters, the athletes and the younger riders through the trail.
“The improvements will hopefully bring more money into the area and that’s the bottom line really.
“There will be more people seeking accommodation, using the facilities in town, utilising the natural resources, appreciating the beauty of the track and gaining more knowledge of the area.”
Mrs Nicholas said WAL hoped to now conduct surveys regularly on the Warburton Rail Trail, to keep up-to-date with the needs of cyclists who utilise the trail.