THE final stage of a $1.5 million, decade-long plan to create 40kms of bike and walking trails linking the Mitcham Hills to the plains will be completed next year.

Design work for a series of trails in Randell Park has begun and construction is expected to start early next year after Mitcham Council secured a $200,000 State Government grant last month.

Plans at the 47 ha reserve include new walking and mountain bike tracks, sign posting and mapping, trail entrance upgrades, landscaping and fencing.

TELL US BELOW: What will this trails mean to you and your family?

Randell Park is the last reserve to be completed under Mitcham’s Mountain Bike Strategy, which started in 2005 to combat a spike in the number of people risking their lives riding on illegal tracks.

Mountain Bike SA member Joff Medder said riders were pleased the council was close to completing the long-awaited project.

Once completed the 40km network will extend through Blackwood Hill Reserve, Magpie Gully Reserve, Karinya Reserve, Mountbatten Reserve, Ashby Reserve, O’Deas Reserve, Saddle Hill Reserve, Windy Point and Lynton Reserve.

To date, the council has completed 10km of the trails.

Mountain Bike SA member Joff Medder said riders were excited the project was nearing completion.

“Forty kilometres of unstopped trails – there’s nowhere in metropolitan Australia you would be able to ride that far so this is a plus for Adelaide,” Mr Medder said.

“It’s quite obvious we’re leading the way with the final stage of this trail network.”

media_camera Joff Medder is keen to hit the new trails on his mountain bike.

The downhill rider, who is also a member of Inside Line, a mountain bike club, said cyclists were eager to return to Randell Park after they were shut out of the Mitcham reserve in 2006.

“Randell Park was where we first started riding, but we have been locked out of it for nearly the last 10 years so it’s been a long time,” he said.

“This is what we’ve been fighting for, for many years.”

“It’s absolutely exciting.”

Mr Medder said residents and visitors would also benefit from the new trails.

“The wider community will have somewhere to walk their dog or go for a run or explore a reserve that doesn’t get used,” Mr Medder said.

“The whole idea is to give people places to go while trying to link Mitcham with other bike networks, so people can ride from the suburbs to the hills and not have to ride on the road.”

He hoped neighbouring councils would follow Mitcham’s lead in developing a broader network of trails.

“If they get on board this could go all the way through the suburbs out to the north.

“Mitcham Council is definitely at the forefront of trails.”

Ryan Farquharson, of Hawthorndene, who was sideswiped by a car on his ride to work in 2009, welcomed improved walking paths and a bike track in Randell Park.

Since his accident he has been calling for a sealed, car-free cycling path to be built at the corner of James and Old Belair roads in Mitcham to provide a more direct route for the uphill ride home in the reserve.

“It’s excellent and it’s great for me personally because it’s more a commuter link between the hills and the plains,” Mr Farquharson said.

“It’s one area that will be really popular with recreational cyclists and it needed to be upgraded due to environmental issues and to create easy access.”

A Mitcham council spokeswoman said draft design plans for Randell Park were likely to be considered by councillors in mid-2014.

Community consultation would occur late 2014.

The remainder of the $600,000 project will be funded by Mitcham Council and was expected to be completed by October 2015, she said.

TELL US BELOW: What will this trails mean to you and your family?

Originally published as $1.5m, 40km bike trail on track