Grab your Fitbits, Garmins and fitness trackers because getting those steps up are about to get a whole lot easier with a new footbridge to be built across Tonkin Highway at Ballajura.

The footbridge will provide pedestrians and cyclists easy access to the future Malaga Station and the popular Whiteman Park, and will feature open, well-lit areas.

Feedback from a community survey last year showed pedestrians and cyclists wanted to be able to walk and cycle to the new station and surrounding areas, which the new footbridge will help deliver.

The bridge will be designed and built by the Tonkin Gap Alliance, which is upgrading Tonkin Highway between Dunreath Drive and Collier Road and providing rail-enabling works for the METRONET Morley-Ellenbrook Line Project.

Further community consultation will take place before works starts in the new year.

Due for completion in late-2023, the footbridge will be accessible to commuters via the shared path along Tonkin Highway, close to the Premier Place access point on the west side.

The Morley-Ellenbrook Line will provide new transport options for Perth’s north-east suburbs with 21km of rail and five new stations between Bayswater and Ellenbrook.

The Noongar Place Name for Malaga Station is Oordal Kalla (Oord-al Ka-lla) and the narrative is ‘clan of Yallagonga’.