Constant traffic noise from a Gungahlin arterial road is tormenting residents of an Amaroo street. Houses on Buckingham Street back onto busy Horse Park Drive – and the people who live in the street say they can’t use their backyards, can’t open their windows, and can’t sleep at night.
“The noise just batters you down,” said resident Zeljko Pekic.
“You can’t sit outside for extended periods, simply because the noise just gets to you. Your stress levels, your health levels, your ability to enjoy your own home, are decreased. It’s almost like mental torture.”
Mr Pekic and other Buckingham Street residents want the ACT Government to erect a noise reduction barrier along Horse Park Drive, but government surveys have found that the noise is acceptable, so no noise wall is needed.
Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) surveyed noise levels from Horse Park Drive in Buckingham Street from two separate residences – Mr Pekic’s house and another – and determined that the noise level was below the target level of 60 decibels by day and 55 dB by night.
TCCS stated that traffic noise was typically below 60 dB, except for two short periods on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. Traffic noise levels were typically 15 dB higher than the background noise level measured during the same time period.
“In accordance with [the ACT Government’s Noise Management Guidelines], Roads ACT will consider retrofitting noise abatement measures if the measured traffic noise exceeds the target levels by more than 5 dB. The results from the survey do not exceed this level (65 dB daytime, 60 dB nighttime), and therefore we will not be considering any noise abatement measures at this time.”
Mr Pekic said he was frustrated with the findings. “The government says the levels are acceptable; have they sat outside and tried to listen to 53 dB car sounds constantly during the day for 15 hours?”
He claims the TCCS report is incomplete; although the TCCS surveyors were in his street for 14 days, the table used only seven days of data. He has asked the government for a more detailed report of the noise levels – he is unsure if the table shows average readings or maximum readings – and for previous reports on Horse Park Drive noise levels.
“The government paid for an extensive report, but the report is so basic that if you were to use that in private enterprise, you would get laughed at.”
Mr Pekic has measured noise readings in his street himself; the average level seems to be in the mid-50s to low 60s, and reaches 78 dB when a truck went past and 82 dB from a Harley Davidson.
The road surface level of Horse Park Drive is just above Mr Pekic’s fence line; his family cannot open windows or sliding doors, he said, as “the noise blasts straight in”.
Trucks deliver to nearby building sites every single day, Mr Pekic said. Amaroo Coles and Amaroo Aldi are just up the road; their delivery trucks go backwards and forwards every single day.
From the intersection of Mulligan’s Flat and Horse Park Drive, “everyone takes off like a bat out of hell – an 18-wheeler semi taking off from a set of lights is pretty noisy”. And sirens of 100 dB come screaming by Mr Pekic’s house three or four nights a week, en route to Bonner, he said.
“I might as well be living in a dungeon, because if I can’t go out of my house into my backyard because the noise levels are mood altering, what’s the point of having a house here?”
Other neighbours have built a brand-new deck and pergola in their backyard – but they can’t use it.
“If you want to have a barbecue outside, you can’t do it; your friends ask how you can stand to sit there with the noise. It’s impossible to bear.”
And Mr Pekic expects the noise to get only worse. The nearby suburb of Taylor is half-finished, while another 1,000 blocks of Jacka are being built, he said. When they are, traffic volumes will increase.
Mr Pekic and his neighbours believe their street desperately needs a noise mitigation screen. Their houses are at most 20m from the Drive. (Mr Pekic’s is 17m.) Homes in the new suburbs of Jacka, Moncrieff, and Casey that look onto Horse Park Drive have noise mitigation measures (double glazing and laminated glass), even though they are 70m to 90m from it.
There is one small screen, constructed before Horse Park Drive was duplicated, at the intersection of Mulligans Flat Road and Horse Park Drive. It shields three houses.
“So it was considered essential to put it there – but literally 20m up the road, it’s not essential,” Mr Pekic said.
The government erected noise mitigation barriers when Gundaroo Park Drive was duplicated, and along two-lane Pro Hart Avenue in Strathnairn.
“They’ve already built [sound walls] in other areas; they just won’t do it here,” Mr Pekic said. “We’re in a worse scenario than the other areas.”
Mr Pekic has several times asked Chris Steel, Minister for Transport and City Services, to visit him and listen to the noise himself. Liberal MLA Leanne Castley has also taken up Mr Pekic’s cause; she has visited Mr Pekic’s house, questioned Mr Steel in the Assembly about noise levels, and urged him to hear for himself.
Mr Steel this week emailed Mr Pekic and a neighbour – “the same letter, word for word,” according to Mr Pekic – explaining why the government had no plans to install noise mitigating treatments.
“I am sorry to hear that the traffic noise from Horse Park Drive has affected you,” Mr Steel wrote.
“Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) aims to limit the impacts of road traffic noise through good planning and design practices, provision of adequate separation, and the use of quieter road pavement surfacing.
“For existing roads, noise barriers and other additional treatments are only considered where noise levels exceed certain thresholds.
“As you are aware, TCCS has recently undertaken noise surveys at 44 and 64 Buckingham Street Amaroo to gain an accurate reading for the full length of the street. The results from the surveys has shown that the noise levels experienced from Horse Park Drive are below the thresholds set out in the ACT Government’s Noise Management Guidelines.
“Given this, there are no plans to install any noise mitigating treatments at this time.”
Mr Pekic said he was “appalled” by what he considers Mr Steel’s lack of respect.
“The Minister won’t come out and have a look. ‘We feel for you, but because TCCS says it’s not required at the moment, we’re not going to do anything about it.’
“So the government knows about it; it’s just their inaction and lack of empathy for the residents here. They don’t care, because there are only 50 houses along this road. Things like that don’t concern them.
“But if this was an election year, they’d all be sitting on my front doorstep, like a photo opportunity, saying look at how good we are for the community,” he said.
Canberra Daily has contacted the offices of Mr Steel and Ms Castley for comment.
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