Cycling on freeways

Cycling is only permitted on the shoulders of some parts of rural freeways (not urban sections) and is not permitted on urban freeways.

Rural freeways include the Western Freeway, the Calder Freeway, the Hume Freeway and parts of the Princes Freeway to Traralgon.

Urban freeways include the Western Ring Road, the Northern Ring Road, the Eastern Freeway, the Tullamarine Freeway, the Monash Freeway, the West Gate Freeway, the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, the Princes Freeway to Werribee and City Link. Cyclists are also not permitted to ride on the urban sections of the Princes Freeway and the Calder Freeway.

Cycling is permitted on the shoulders of rural freeways because:

• They usually provide the most practical route for cyclists.
• They carry relatively low volumes of traffic on main carriageways and on entry and exit ramps that cyclists need to cross.

Cycling is not permitted on urban freeways because:

• There are other routes that cyclists can take.
• They carry relatively high volumes of traffic on main carriageways and on entry and exit ramps. There are many more ramps on urban freeways and these ramps often have more than one lane.

See map: Cycling on urban freeways

See map: Cycling between Melbourne, Werribee and Geelong

Freeway cycling tips

The following tips apply to cycling on rural freeways.

• Ride as near as practical to the left side of the sealed road shoulder;
• Travel in single file, except where there are wide sealed shoulders (3 m);
• Travel in the same direction as traffic;
• When crossing freeway on/off ramps, follow signs as directed;
• Cross freeway ramps at right angles;
• Use special off-carriageway bicycle paths and alternative non-freeway routes where directed by signs;

Children are not encouraged to cycle on freeways, as they do not have the maturity and the necessary road skills.