Wasn't sure to put this in the Rant thread or News thread.
The RMS have recently released the latest proposed Coffs Harbour Bypass of the Pacific Highway.
http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/northern-nsw/coffs-harbour-bypass/index.htmlhttps://www.collaborativemap.com/CoffsHarbourBypassWhile this should be a good thing it appears a number of people don't think so.
As most people that know Coffs harbour it is where the Great Dividing Range meets the ocean and there are a few hills. In the route around Coffs there are three main hills. While earlier plans had these marked as possible tunnels the final proposal has three cuttings with two land bridges for wildlife corridors.
From media sources, there appears to be a group of people strongly opposing the lack of tunnels. Even our lady Mayor treats the Bypass Proposal as a 'cheapskate' offer. From what I can gather, or understand the main reasoning for the want of tunnels is somehow tunnels will stop the highway noise, where as the 'trenches' as described by our local Labor Candidate calls them will cause the highway noise to reverberate all over Coffs Harbour.
From my researching from what I have found, tunnels do not stop highway noise and it will still be as 'bad' as without tunnels.
Also my research shows a lot more against tunnels then for tunnels. The tunnels the Mayor and Labor candidate are wanting would become Managed Tunnels which causes a few extra problems. One being NO hazardous goods can go into the tunnels. So ALL vehicles carrying Hazardous Goods will still have to travel through the CBD of Coffs Harbour. Also as Managed Tunnels apart from all the 'safety' infrastructure that goes into building the tunnels is the 24/7 monitoringof each Tunnel and the regular maintenance required for each tunnel.
From the RMS website I can compare that to the tunnels at St Helena, (Byron Bay) and Tugan.
https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/northern-nsw/northern-tunnels/index.htmlLooking at the St Helena tunnel, each tunnel would be closed for routine maintenance for two nights every three months. So for three tunnels, that is up to six nights every three months a tunnel is completely closed to ALL traffic and ALL traffic will be back into the Coffs Harbour CBD. The cost involved of tunneling is nothing compared to the ongoing monitoring and maintenance.
All for the sake of noise and trenches.
A few years ago the RMS had their Community Consultation period and due to the backlash about the bypass being a bypass and not a complete re-routing of the Highway from south of Coffs inland to either north of Woolgoolga, Halfway Creek or even Grafton, the whole Bypass was stalled. So instead of doing the bypass back then, they did the Sapphire to Woolgoolga was done.
Now. Before you get too excited about a uninterrupted dual carriageway up the north coast of NSW. The visible construction work is not expected until late 2020 at the earliest, with construction times to be three years for the Coffs Bypass and four years for the 2km section connecting the northern interchange to the existing highway. So lets say by 2024/6 we should have a good clear run up and down the highway. Depending of course just how many hold up they have. The first being the people demanding tunnels.
Of the ones demanding tunnels or opposing the Proposed Bypass, while some are residence of Coffs Harbour with their own concerns. Others appear to be more politically driven. Does make we wonder if their Political party was in power, just how much they would be complaining about the Bypass, or trying to sell the idea. It would be a challenge for them to actually try and do the right thing for the community they are supposed to be representing rather then just being in Opposition and taking that word literally and opposing everything.
Yeah. So there you have it.
