City on edge over light rail construction

City on edge over light rail construction

BY PETA GILBERT

The NSW Transport Department has said they are committed to reducing environmental impacts and noise concerns during CBD light rail construction, but residents and businesses have claimed that not enough is being done.

At the Sydney Light Rail Community Forum on Tuesday November 17, Transport For NSW faced the complaints of CBD residents and business.

Helen O’Boyle, who lives in the CBD, said she was worried that not enough is being done to ensure that noise is kept to a minimum.

“During the construction of the cycleways, the noise level reached 85 to 90 decibels at night which is above the legal limit and I couldn’t sleep which meant my performance at work slipped.”

“It’s dangerous from a workplace health and safety perspective,” Ms O’Boyle said.

The department discussed the installation of noise blankets and monitors, and said these would play a major role in reducing noise-related disturbances.

Transport for NSW confirmed that it would also recycle 95 per cent of construction waste, ensure that a quarter of all energy used is green energy and implement measures to reduce dust.

General Manager of The Grace Hotel Philip Pratley spoke about his concern about the noise from suction trucks that had been stationed outside of the hotel for an “unexpectedly long period of time”.

“We are facing a significant business loss,” Mr Pratley said.

John Brady, Director of CBD Communications at Transport for NSW said that it was not going to be “an easy run” but the department would try to make the process as “painless as possible”.

Issues were also raised from residents about the capability of stormwater drains and having tracks submerged in water in heavy rainfall.

However, Mr Brady assured those concerned that the project would not create any unsafe situations, and that the issues would be further discussed in the next meeting.

“We will have issues from time to time and we will deal with each one as they come,” Mr Brady said.

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