M2 Upgrade Project Report

Ray White Beecroft alerted local residents to the 5-storey rezoning plan for the Beecroft Shopping Village. Despite overwhelming local opposition (see my blog of 21 July), Hornsby Shire kept the Village in their rezoning plan which will be gazetted soon.

A 2 year $550 Million dollar project is about to start to widen the M2 as it passes through Beecroft and Cheltenham. The M2 Upgrade Submissions and Preferred Project Report is available at http://www.hillsm2upgrade.com.au/. It's a 277 page document. If you don't want to read it all, here are some excerpts of special interest to Beecroft residents:

Pages 82: "Hornsby Shire Council noted that access to some bush walking tracks would be restricted in areas where the walking tracks pass below the M2 Motorway bridge structure, including under Terrys Creek and Devlins Creek. Provision of alternative paths would not be possible as work sites under these bridges would cover the entire area."

Page 85: "As per recent correspondence (dated 13 November 2009) between the RTA and Hornsby Shire Council, the Kirkham Street overbridge road approaches were constructed by Hills M2 and handed over to Hornsby Shire Council in 1997 in accordance with the requirements of the original Project Deed. Maintenance and repair of the road surface is currently the responsibility of Hornsby Shire Council. Repairs to Kirkham Road bridge are not part of the project."

Page 153 "The comments about the walkway to Beecroft station appear to relate to the path under the M2 Motorway linking Allerton Road to Chilworth Recreation Reserve. Wherever possible the M2 Upgrade project would maintain existing pedestrian access arrangements during construction. However, the path under the motorway viaduct over Devlins Creek near Chilworth Reserve may need to temporarily close during construction for safety reasons. Due to topography, limited space and physical work requirements it may not be possible to maintain safe pedestrian access through this area during construction."

Page 196 "Community consultation and submissions received in response to the public exhibition of the environmental assessment have highlighted concerns over the need for vegetation clearing near the Murray Farm Road overbridge, along the southern side of the M2 Motorway. In response to these concerns, and issues raised in relation to noise wall locations during construction, the design of the M2 Upgrade project at this location was reviewed and amended. The amended design generally shifts upgrade works to the north of the M2 Motorway, and removes the need for vegetation clearing to the south."

Page 233 "The design of the M2 Motorway Upgrade project around the Kirkham Street/Murray Farm Road overbridge has been reviewed, and an alternative design developed to shift carriageway widening works from the south to the north of the M2 Motorway. Compared with the original design presented in the environmental assessment, the alternative design would result in a significant reduction in vegetation clearing, a reduction in the length of noise walls affected during construction works, and would remove the need for works to be undertaken within Devlins Creek and surrounding riparian areas."

Page 239: "Construction areas for the amended design can, in most cases, be accessed directly from the M2 Motorway. The key exception is widening of Kirkham Street/Murray Farm Road overbridge, which would require access off Murray Farm Road/Kirkham Street. Final access routes would be established based on detailed design and construction methodologies, and while some limited access to local roads may be required, heavy vehicle movements along local roads would be significantly less than envisaged for the original design. As a consequence, the potential for traffic noise impacts associated with construction vehicles using local roads would be significantly reduced."

The plan to use Allerton Road for construction access into Chilworth Reserve has been dropped, they will instead use the northern access as proposed by Michael Stove in the submission by the Beecroft / Cheltenham Civic Trust.