Beecroft Road Bridge Closed over Easter

The following has been received from the M2 Project:

All lanes on Beecroft Road Bridge will be closed between 4am Saturday, 7 April and 12pm Monday, 9 April 2012 while essential concreting work is completed. The westbound off ramp and citybound on ramp will remain open to motorists throughout this period. Motorists will not be able to turn left onto Beecroft Road from Kandy Avenue during this period. At 12pm on Monday, 9 April 2012 all lanes will reopen to motorists and a 40km/hour speed limit may be in place until 5am Tuesday, 10 April 2012.

Delays are expected so please plan your journey, allow extra travel time and consider using alternate routes via Pennant Hills Road and Carlingford Road. Please check www.livetraffic.com or call 131 701 for traffic updates.

Comment on this blog

For those not familiar with comments and blogs, this is the text of a comment against my earlier 21 March post on access under the M2 viaducts in Chilworth Reserve. And here is a photo of the access path entry gate.

The comment is: "The signage is totally confusing leaving pedestrians thinking there is an alternate path across the creek when they are just being directed in circles along the southern pathway between Orchard and Allerton roads. The access path across the creek must be maintained during the works. Accepting that the path location may change as the work progresses there is no excuse to completely block access across the creek. This must be managed to accommodate both the right of way and safety concerns. If this means moving the fence corridor regularly or employing a safety crossing flag person then so be it. Pedestrian gates should not be found locked shut."

Kirkham Bridge Span Widening

In earlier blogs I questioned why it was going to take as long to widen the spans as it was to widen the whole motorway, and why buses and trucks may not be allowed to use the bridge after April of next year until the work is finished.

That was explained very nicely by Peter Colacino of Transurban and a member of his team at the BCCT AGM the other day.

The problem is they have to build a new buttress to support the bridge, in between the two new roadways. They can only do that when the new east-going roadway is built. Meanwhile they have to dig out the bridge on that side before they can build that wider east-going roadway under it, and there will be a time when the eastern span is wider than the original designers intended, supported only by the existing buttress. Transurban engineers will decide before then what weight the wider span can carry and decide what weight limit to apply.

When the wider east-going lane is built, the new buttress can be built to support it, and the existing buttress can then be removed to allow the west-going lanes to be finished. Normal weight limits will hopefully then be restored.

A very complex planning process! Every step is interlinked with steps before and after. Thanks for the explanation, Peter.

(This post was prompted by a question in an email from Elise of MSB)

M2 Access to Chilworth Reserve - Hot Word

Hills M2 Upgrade Community Relations responded to an enquiry as follows:

"Thank you for your enquiry. As stated in the notification, access to the Devlins Creek compound will be from the M2 only - both eastbound and westbound carriageways. At this stage, it is planned that no access roads will be constructed from Allerton or Redgrove Avenue to this compound.

"For further information regarding the M2 Upgrade Project please visit the project website www.hillsm2upgrade.com.au or contact the project team on 1800 192 266."

I am sure we will all be relieved by that statement, although it is not clear what they mean by access from the westbound carriageway. Is this why they are opening the noise barrier on the south side of that carriageway? We know they have approval to clear a strip along the south side of that carriageway to take the extension for the extra lane, it appears that they will be allowing trucks to use that cleared path to get from the carriageway down into the construction camp. It just would be nice if they explained this in simple words!

M2 Vegetation Clearing, Chilworth Reserve

I received this missive relating to a meeting held recently by the M2 Widening Project:

"When I went to the meeting last Friday about vegetation clearing it appeared that they are still making up their mind about what they will do for access. While it seems definite that they will use the original access by the golf course for incoming vehicles there now seems doubt that they will come in or leave at Allerton Road.
"They may try to build a ramp for vehicles to leave the site on the southern side of the M2 back onto Orchard Road where the detention ponds are and not on the footpath they use now.
Mark Hood from Hornsby Council has said that Council is not happy for them to use the footpath and there is also Council land involved if they came in from Allerton Road.
"The Allerton Road option would be a real loss because it would involve the clearing of a swathe of bushland which is in good condition just for a temporary access. It seems very unsatisfactory to me that consent has been given for this project without actually looking at conditions on the ground despite concerns expressed in submissions.
"Also Council are saying they are unaware that the M2 currently use the footpath off Orchard Road as access, something I am somewhat incredulous about as I know it has been a problem that trucks use that track for other bushcarers and residents in that area as well as myself since the M2 opened. It has been the only access available for anyone doing work in that area be it Council, the Water or Electricity authorities or the M2.
"I am hopeful that the Allerton Road option will not go ahead but will have to wait and see."

I am unable to name the author of the note, but I post the missive here because it certainly sums up numerous issues that are very strong community concerns.

BCCT AGM - M2 Rep Present

The Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust AGM will be held at 7:30pm Monday 7 March at the Cheltenham Recreational Club, Lyne Road.
As well as normal business including election of Committee members, a representative of Transurban will be there to answer questions on the M2 widening, including the Murray Farm Rd Bridge over the M2.

M2 Kirkham Bridge Project Intentions

The RTA has clarified the 3 tonne load limit restrictions on the Murray Farm Road bridge over the motorway and how this will affect buses like the 553 service. Although the span widening activity will commence late Feb 2011, only in one phase of that activity will this restriction need to be enforced, and this is currently projected to be from April 2012 until October 2012.

So at least for the next year, kids will be able to get to and from school by bus!

The RTA also state in their latest bulletin that, when one-lane operation is imposed on the bridge, traffic over the bridge will be controlled in alternating directions using signalised traffic control. This matches the opinion of local residents as shown in the recent Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust survey.

Buses won't be able to use M2 Kirkham Bridge!

The latest bulletin of the Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust states that heavy vehicles including buses will not be able to use the bridge over the M2 between Murray Farm Road and Kirkham Street during the work to widen the spans. Therefore school children living west of the bridge will not be able to travel to their schools by bus! Also presumably fire engines from Beecroft will not be able to attack fires west of the bridge.
Transurban claim the work on widening the spans of the bridge will take 22 months to complete, a strange coincidence because this is also the proposed duration of the whole M2 widening project. Pressure needs to be applied to the project team to actively plan this work as a fast-track activity which will assist the M2 widening project as well as minimising disruption for local residents and businesses.

M2 Kirkham Bridge Project Intentions

All sorts of people are asking for information about the M2 Project's intentions for the road bridge over the M2 between Murray Farm Road and Kirkham St. I have today had a reply from the project, presumably giving the latest known intentions, and it states "The traffic management arrangements for the bridge works are still being finalised. These arrangements will (be) approved by the Roads and Traffic Authority in consultation with Hornsby Shire Council".

One hopes that the RTA is examining in detail why it will take 22 months to alter the spans of the bridge, exactly as long as it will take to widen the whole 21 km section of the motorway. This sounds an implausible coincidence to me.

Good project management would put priority onto widening the spans early, to give more clearance for the widening and other work taking place below, and also incidentally to restore full use of the bridge to the local residents.

If the project insists that early completion, and hence full opening of the bridge, is not possible, then one has to conclude there are other reasons for closing one lane of the road for the duration of the project, such as a desire to use the closed lane of the bridge for purposes not currently announced or approved. No such other reasons have yet been published. In the interests of their ratepayers, Hornsy Shire Council needs to examine this issue urgently.

BCCT M2 Bridge Survey - Last Chance

The BCCT survey of resident wishes regarding the Murray Farm Road bridge over the M2 will close 31 January. At present responses overwhelmingly favour traffic light control with alternate traffic directions. The more numbers the BCCT can quote, the more influence their views have. Please, have your say, by clicking the link on the BCCT website 2119.org.au, and also join the BCCT so their representatives have more clout with the various politicians and authorities.

BCCT Survey on M2 Kirkham Road Bridge RESULTS

The results quoted below are copied straight off the BCCT blog (BCCT2119.blogspot.com).

"The survey being conducted by the Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust is still open for entries, but interim results are very clear.

96% AGAINST full closure of the bridge (92% "STRONGLY DISAGREED". Another 4% "DISAGREED")

85% AGAINST Tidal Flow (AM one way PM the other). (64% "STRONGLY DISAGREED". Another 21% "DISAGREED")

59% IN FAVOUR of traffic light control alternate directions. (41% "AGREED". Another 18% "STRONGLY AGREED") "

The survey included comments by contributors, and they make interesting reading. Regarding the "Traffic Light Control Alternate Directions, the overwhelming comment is "better than the alternatives."

A lot of the comments relate to the need for 22 months with one lane closed, if the reason for that closure is just to widen the spans. People are beginning to ask if this is a furphy, and are wondering whether the closure is being imposed on residents to suit the convenience of the Project!

M2 Project intentions for Kirkham Road Bridge

According to an article in this week's Northern District Times, Transurban has now given a full written commitment that the bridge would not be closed during the upgrade project.
The Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust website, 2119.org.au, now confirms that.
However what has not yet been revealed is, how the one-lane use will be controlled. By far the least disruptive option is to have traffic lights, allowing alternate traffic in both directions. However there has been a proposal to use "Tidal Flow", with access one way in the morning and the other way in the afternoon.
Of course this will be easier for the project, but hugely disruptive to the local residents.
The BCCT is conducting a survey of resident wishes, and this allows respondents to state preference. The results of that survey have not yet been released.

Chilworth Reserve and the M2 Widening Project

Further to my last post, I am now informed that Hornsby Council has received an email from the M2 Construction Group relating to the use of Allerton Road to access the construction camp, which states that they have 'conceded the formal access through the bushland in this location'. There is a suggestion the group may establish a small car park for executives at the end of Allerton Road, but there will only be foot access from there to the construction camp. Obviously this is good news for all the many lovers of the Chilworth Recreation Reserve. Of whom my dog Binzi is one!

Chilworth Reserve and the M2 Widening Project

The RTA and Transurban intend to build a construction camp under the M2 viaducts over Chilworth Recreation Reserve. They will use this while they fill in the gap between the two viaducts and extend the south viaduct out to convert the present M2 into one ten lane highway (one bus lane, three traffic lanes, and a bike lane, each way).
The M2 Upgrade Project has responded to queries about how construction traffic will get to this camp. The BCCT suggested they use the original 1990's construction path between the M2 and the golf course. The M2 Project responds that this "only allows access in - it does not allow access out of the compound area. The existing informal access off Orchard Road has a corridor of Blue Gums, and the potential impacts surrounding this area of vegetation is currently being considered."
An alternative exit path that was at one stage being proposed was to push a complete new road in off the end of Allerton Road, down through the lovely bush areas south of the motorway. It would seem that such an action would impose far more serious and permanent destruction of the park.
Survey and other project vehicles have over the last six months or so broadened that 'informal access' path from Orchard Road into a full width bush car track. Adapting it further to take construction traffic seems a small additional sacrifice compared to the devastation that would result from a complete new road driven in from the eastern end.

Kirkham Bridge Update - "not to be closed"

Greg Smith, State MP for Epping, advises that after significant pressure from the Beecroft and Cheltenham community, the RTA and Transurban have decided not to pursue the option of closing the bridge over the motorway between Murray Farm Road and Beecroft Road! As Greg says, "sanity has prevailed".
I like to think that the petition signed by so many of you helped in influencing this decision. I will retain all your emails in case we need to raise further issues with the project office. One such issue will of course be the Transurban plan for widening the bridge spans while the bridge remains open to traffic. Traffic lights seem the obvious solution, but the community will be pressing to minimise the duration of that obstruction.

BCCT Blog

This blog has been campaigning on issues of the M2 Widening Project that affect residents of Beecroft and Cheltenham, simply because no other site on the internet was adequately covering the local aspects of the project.
It is therefore with pleasure that I can advise everyone that the Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust has started a blog that will cover those issues. The address is BCCT2119.blogspot.com, and I suggest you monitor it for news on the fate of the Kirkham St road bridge over the M2.

Tree Conservation

Today I received this email:

"A quick note to let you know that the Hornsby Shire Council Tree and Vegatation online discussion forum will close at 5.00pm on Friday 24 December 2010.
Your comments and ideas and participation in the quick poll at http://bangthetable.com/treeandvegetationprotection will guide the development of Council's new Tree and Vegetation Protection policy. Have your say and forward this email to colleagues and friends so they can also have their say."

Please, as the Council asks, forward this to your friends, and all of you have your say. Beecroft and Cheltenham are beautiful partly because of all our lovely trees.

But do remember that the RTA and Transurban are planning to buldoze a new road through Chilworth Recreation Reserve from Allerton Road to the M2 Widening Project construction camp under the M2 viaducts simply because a stand of Blue Gums is now apparently blocking the original construction road between the motorway and the golf course. If true, this to me demonstrates what is wrong with the present policy. I will therefore be voting for Option 2.

Epping M2 Bus Ramp "Essential Part of the M2"

I have been advised that the proposal to build the original M2 ("Castlereagh Expressway" as it was then) was examined by the Woodward Commission of Inquiry in 1989, hearing 829 submissions from 301 parties including 52 experts. The inquiry found that the M2 SHOULD NOT BE BUILT, ON ALL GROUNDS.
To resurrect the project it was modified to INCLUDE THE EPPING BUS RAMP. This excellent proposal would allow morning commuter buses from north west Sydney to get rapidly to Epping railway station and avoid the M2 car park from there to the city, and bus passengers could then commute comfortably and swiftly by train from Epping. This significant and sensible development resulted in the M2 project being re-considered, and approved as a road based but integrated transport solution.
On that basis the Epping bus ramp is an integral and essential part of the M2, without which the M2 would not have been permitted. How now can the RTA propose to remove it?

Epping M2 Bus Ramp

Recent editorials and letters in the Sydney Morning Herald and elsewhere are highlighting broad local community concern about the RTA intention to remove the Epping bus ramp. Commuter buses coming from the north west travel down the dedicated bus lane on the M2 to the Epping tunnel, then leave the M2 on the bus ramp there for a dedicated road into Epping railway station so they can continue their commute into the city by rail.
The RTA plans to demolish that bus ramp, and send all buses down to Macquarie or beyond.
It occurs to me that it's the people in north west Sydney who should be up in arms about this, because it denies them the ability to commute by train. Most of them probably ignored a proposal to widen 21 Km of motorway half way from their homes to the city.
Did anyone alert them to the significance of the bus ramp removal, which Transurban now say is "a critical part of the work to establish a third lane on the motorway"?

Newsletter from Greg Smith SC MP

Greg Smith, member for Epping, Shadow Attorney General, and Shadow Minister for Justice in the NSW parliament, put out his December 2010 newsletter today with the front page devoted to concerns about the M2 Widening Project. One article is on concerns about the construction camp proposed for Waterloo Park, but that is outside the area I cover with this blog.
Another article directly affects Beecroft and Cheltenham residents. "Though assured that community consultation will be carried out before any decision is made, local residents are on edge as Transurban and the RTA confirmed that the bridge may be reduced to one lane for 20 months while the M2 upgrade is in progress."
Mr Smith says that 1,200 vehicles use the bridge in morning peak hour!
He also says "There has been more speculation recently that Transurban is proposing to demolish the bridge entirely, which would divide Beecroft and affect shops and businesses in the Beecroft Shopping Village". Mr Smith and members of the Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust are apparently meeting with Roads Minister David Borger to resolve this problem.