The Stuart O'Grady Bikeway is a shared path in the northern suburbs of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, following the eastern side of the Max Fatchen Expressway. The northeastern end is adjacent to the on ramp from Two Wells Road to the

Gawler Bypass Gawler Bypass is a major north–south route in the outer northern suburbs of the city of Adelaide, South Australia, connecting Main North Road to the Sturt Highway, bypassing Gawler. The route was built in 1963 in an attempt to redirect traffic ...

. The southwestern end is adjacent to

Port Wakefield Road Port Wakefield Highway (and its southern section as Port Wakefield Road) is an important South Australian highway, connecting Adelaide to the Yorke Peninsula, Port Augusta, northern and western South Australia, the Northern Territory and Wester ...

. It is named after

Stuart O'Grady Stuart O'Grady (born 6 August 1973) is a retired Australian professional road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 1995 and 2013. A former track cyclist, O'Grady and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in the Men's Madison at the 2004 ...

Description

The bikeway crosses roads at-level near each of the five expressway exits. At two of these junctions, the bikeway crosses two roads — At Two Wells Road it also crosses Wingate Road which provides a local road crossing of the Gawler River and at Womma Road, the bikeway also crosses the north-south Heaslip Road. Several of the minor roads that were cut to create the Max Fatchen Expressway have a pedestrian and bike gate in the fence to provide access to the shared path from roads that do not have direct access to the expressway. The expressway, and hence bikeway, is located west of most of the suburbs it passes near. As a consequence, it can be quite windy due to being exposed on the

Adelaide Plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast (Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Ade ...

with little tree cover in some areas. Adjacent land includes some almond and olive orchards, but also market gardens, vineyards, cereal crops and vacant land. It crosses the former Smithfield Magazine munitions store south of Curtis Road, and some of the historic buildings remain. There is no water or food available anywhere along the route, but there are two picnic shelters. One is in a planted native garden on the north side of the Gawler River. The other is north of Womma Road, not far from a small cemetery and ruins of the Zoar

Bible Christian The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O’Bryan, a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. The first society, consisting of just 22 members, met at Lake Farm in Shebbear, ...

chapel which had served the Penfield community. There are interpretive signs at these landmarks and all of the bridges to cross the Expressway, which are named after famous military battles that involved Australian forces.

Proposed extension

The Stuart O'Grady Bikeway is proposed to be extended by next to the

Northern Connector Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

to reach the junction of

Salisbury Highway Salisbury Highway (and its northern section as John Rice Avenue) is a 15 kilometre major connecting road in the northern suburbs of the Adelaide metropolitan area. It is designated part of route A9. Route Salisbury Highway starts at the interch ...

and

North-South Motorway ''North-South'' ( hy, Հյուսիս-Հարավ) or ''Four Buddies and the Bride'' is an Armenian comedy directed by Davit Babakhanyan and Vazgen Muradyan, starring Diana Malenko, Sona Shahgeldyan and David Tovmasyan. The film was produced by ...

by the end of 2019. A new path parallel to the

Port River Expressway Port River Expressway is a freeway-grade road. The expressway links Port Adelaide and the LeFevre Peninsula across the north-western suburbs of Adelaide to major interstate routes via North-South Motorway. The expressway is only grade-separate ...

will also be built, completing a shared cycling and walking track between Gawler and

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

by the end of 2019.

References

{{reflist Cycleways in South Australia Transport in Adelaide