NorthConnex - Hornsby Quarry

I have just received your briefing on the spoil management project for Northconnex. Are you really serious in considering bringing a convoy of trucks through the suburbs of Asquith and Mount Colah during peak hour times, or for that matter at any time. Both these suburbs are dealing with high density traffic due to the amazing short sightedness of approving multi-story units in these areas. You will have the main throrough-fares tired up in a traffic snarl from early morning till late afternoon. The residents in these areas are having enough problems dealing with the influx of builders traffic let alone forcing this on the residents. Good one Local Government. Think of another solution in fact retrace the same steps from the quarry to Northconnex. Don't include Asquith and Mt Colah in your plans.....This area cannot cope with such a proposal. Can you imagine the dust and filth from the trucks polluting the surposedly bushland shire. Totally disgusted with your proposal.

I absolutely support the project as it would greatly benefit the community. It also would make the Hornsby area more beautiful and family friendly.

I am writing to express my concerns about what will happen to the mountain bike trails, during and after the project completion. I recently took up this hobby in October 2014 because of the track in Hornsby. Since then I have had many an enjoyable day there learning new skills and challenging myself on the harder sections. Once the quarry is filled the options are limitless, please expand the track to rival Cecil Park in western Sydney and the local businesses will thrive with the increased use of this awesome facility.
thanks Geoff

This is a great track which enables pro riders like myself and family's to enjoy. This is a great community track and will be dearly miss if it is closed. Please help to save it.

Regards Sam

I support the northconnex tunnel project. At this time I would also like to confirm what a significant benefit the recent developments to old man's valley have been to myself, friends, family and community. Please keep open the cycling trails or make an effort to reinstate them after the quarry filling is complete. This area is a fantastic asset to Hornsby community.

Kind regards,
Mitchell Mole

Dear Sir/madam,
the route the trucks take over the train bridge at yirra rd belmont parade is very busy school times there is often a que of traffic at school pick up times going back to asquith, this bridge is also small and trucks with dog trailors is to big to turn i suggest they go to berowra on ramp m1
regards michael fortune JP
resident asquith

As you can see from my address I live in Ku-ring-gai Chase Rd, Mt Colah. My street is to be used by empty trucks during peak hours after they exit from the quarry. I have two major concerns.

1)The intersection of Belmont Pde and Ku-ring-gai Chase Rd is a T intersection with stop signs on both sides of Belmont Parade. The stop sign on Belmont Parade for the left turn into Ku-ring-gai Chase Road is completely ineffective. I would argue that only every second or third motorist actually stops at that stop sign. As Ku-ring-gai Chase Rd is full of relatively young families I am concerned at the danger of allowing multiple trucks every hour through that stop sign with no thought of stopping. To that end, given the number of trucks that will be using my street, let alone all other traffic, I would hope that the intersection of Belmont Parade and Ku-ring-gai Chase Rd could have traffic lights installed so that trucks and other traffic at least slow down or stop. If this is not an option surely it would not be too inconvenient to instal a few speed bumps on Ku-ring-gai Chase Road.

2) What considerations have been given to residents affected by the noise of hundreds of trucks every day? Will there be monitoring by the EPA? The local MP suggested that there will be a truck movement every two minutes for two and a half years. Will noise levels be monitored or is it more a case of nobody actually caring about the residents affected? I struggle to see why the proposed route is required when entering and exiting the quarry via Bridge Road could be used for the entire day and impacts far less residents.

Trucks entry into and exit from the Hornsby Quarry site should not be using the section of Pacific Highway between Wahroonga, Waitara and Hornsby.
A lot of people/vehicles are already using that section of Pacific Highway and more trucks will create congestion from day to night.
Also, there are a number of schools in that area, more trucks mean more dangers to the students.

The filling of the quarry will need either pre pumping of the large volume of water currently at the quarry bottom (some 2m M3 of cold still water , Dead water which is harmfull to the local river systems if dumped at large volumes, killing eco flora and possible fauna , has this been considered in the EIS.
Also if the filling of the quarry will be by displacement end dumping then this will generate massive silted water being pumped out progressively, still being dead water, of cold temperature and will disturb the fish breeding in the creeks and rivers if silt is being introduced, some form of filtration and water conditioning will be needed.
Also the current commercial rates to use the quarry as a spoil tip for clean fill is in the order of $8/m3 or approx. $ 25m + generation of income for the council, as I am a resident of Hornsby council and have being paying special levies to cover the Quarry issues in the past then I am entitled to ask that the Council get the income back into the accounts for the royalties and filling operation, Sandstone filling of this very short haul location to major infrastructure and building projects is very valuable to Hornsby council and should not e undr estimated or given as a free tip to the Tunneling project.
In addition to this the EIS states that they are letting ENM material into the fill site, which will only add to the imported possibility of a money generating proposition of which ENM material would generate 3 to 4 fold more income to the council.
If the council has not considered this the can the filling operation be opened up to the Engineering market to allow other people to supply clean VENM material to the quarry.

I am in favour of the proposal to use the spill from the North Connex project to fill the quarry at Old Mans Valley but I note in today's Bush Telegraph that there will be a temporary closure of Roper Lane at the junction with Bridge Road. Whilst I accept that this is necessary it will cause great difficulty to those of us who rely on the traffic lights to gain access to Peats Ferry Road at busy times. I live, like many others, on the west side of Galston Road and at busy times making a right hand turn out of Ethel Street or any other on the west side is nigh impossible. Could a roundabout be installed at a suitable street to enable a safe change of direction?

I agree with he overall merits of the application, however object to an element of the proposal involving the closure of access to Bridge Road from Roper Lane.

The traffic lights at Bridge Road & Peats Ferry Rd offer the only safe exit from the entire area including Silvia St, Carrington Road, Stewart St, Maranta St, Manor Rd, Rosamond St and others.

All other points of exit ie Carrington Rd at Galston Rd, Watson Ave onto Peats Ferry Rd, Summers Ave onto Peats Ferry Rd all require a right turn against traffic onto major roads with no traffic lights. This is particularly problematic in the extended morning and afternoon peaks.

Both Summers Ave and Watson Ave both have moulded drainage on the entry/exits to Peats ferry Rd, requiring reduced speeds on exit, further complicating the ability to safely cross multiple lanes of traffic.

While vehicle access via Roper Lane as never been ideal, it has been workable.

Closing access to the Bridge Rd Peats Ferry road lights would cause considerable traffic congestion and risk for turning/merging traffic and would in all likelihood involve increased accidents and injuries.

Consideration of the closure of access from Roper Lane to Bridge Rd MUST involve the inclusion, whether temporary or permanent of traffic lights at Carrington Road or Watson Ave to provide the ability to safely right turn towards the Hornsby CBD.

Or alternate options such as one way heavy transport travel along Bridge Rd, allowing vehicle access from Roper lane to be maintained.

I wish to express my concern about traffic management and access with particular regards to the following:

Haulage from the NorthConnex southern construction sites
Out - Peak hours: out through Bridge Road and north along Jersey Street North, the Pacific Highway, Yirra Road, Belmont Parade, Ku-ring-gai Chase Road to connect with the M1 Pacific Motorway. 


1.My first concern with this route is the right hand turning lane at the traffic lights from the Pacific Highway into Yirra Road. Currently the right hand turning lane only fits about 3-4 cars, if trucks are going to use this route the right hand turning lane needs to be made longer to accommodate the extra volume of vehicles turning right or see point 2.
2. My second concern is the traffic sequence/timing of the right hand arrow into Yirra Road.
Currently if a vehicle is slow moving off the traffic lights only 2-3 vehicles can safely make a right hand turn before the lights turn red. If a truck or bus are turning right you might be lucky to turn right when the arrow turns green , but most times because they are slow off the mark or a longer vehicles you have to wait for the next set of lights. My suggestion would be to make the right hand arrow into Yirra Road sequence longer to give more time for trucks and cars to turn right.
3. My third concern is once the trucks have turned right into Yirra Road then turn right into Belmont Parade will they there be enough room for the trucks to safely turn right into Belmont Parade. In particular with afternoon peak hour north bound traffic travelling along Belmont Parade turning left into Yirra Road cross the bridge. During this time of afternoon the traffic is often banked up all the way to the top of the bridge and both lanes on the bridge are full not and there is not much room for a truck to turn right.

Haulage from the NorthConnex northern construction sites
 In - North along the M1 Pacific Motorway, a U-turn via Ku-ring-gai Chase Road inter-change (using the Mt Colah exit) back onto the M1 Pacific Motorway to travel south,
1. My first concern about this route is the traffic coming off the M1 using the Mt Colah exit. Currently the bushland is dense, which blocks your view of the traffic coming from Bobbin Head direction.
2. My second concern is the trucks coming back onto the M1 Pacific Motorway to travel south. The merge lane onto the Pacific Motorway should be made longer as there is not much room to merge especially when you are following slow moving trucks trying to merge with traffic, which is travelling over 100kph.

 Out - Peak hours: out through Bridge Road and north along Jersey Street North, the Pacific Highway, Yirra Road, Belmont Parade, Ku-ring-gai Chase Road to connect with the M1 Pacific Motorway.
1. Same concerns as expressed in Haulage from the NorthConnex southern construction sites

Hornsby Fire Station
Fire & Rescue NSW
2 Bridge Rd Hornsby NSW 2077
Tel; 94764318 Fax 94821918

NSW Planning & Environment Department

Re; North connex , Hornsby
HORNSBY QUARRY

Dear Sir/Madam,

The Station Officer's at Hornsby Fire Station and FRNSW wish to make comment on The proposed Hornsby Quarry.

We understand heavy vehicles carrying spoil from the Northconnex project will pass outside Hornsby Fire Station No. 2 Bridge Rd Hornsby for a period of 2 years.

As Hornsby Fire Station operates 24 hours a day and responds to various emergencies ,we require clear road access at all times.

Our concerns are that double bogy semi trailers carrying spoil to Hornsby Quarry will stop at the Bridge Rd Traffic lights. This action will prevent access into and out of Hornsby Fire Station.

In considering the EIS for Hornsby quarry, we request that Hornsby Fire Station be given 24 hour traffic light signal access override. A switch can be installed inside Hornsby Fire Station.

If this is not possible ,consideration should be given to traffic controllers operating outside Hornsby Fire Station for the duration of construction of the project.

Regards,

Alan Deitch

Hornsby Fire Station
Fire & Rescue NSW

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the project to partially fill Hornsby Quarry. I am a member of the local mountain bike club, Sydney North Off Road Cyclists, and over the past five years have advocated for and helped construct and maintain the Hornsby Mountain Bike Trail.

The trail is a well-loved and well-used community facility, with Hornsby Council citing 900 laps ridden per week. The trail has been a huge success from a recreational, sporting, social and environmental standpoint.

While it is a shame that the beginner loops (green and light blue) will be lost during the filling process, I am pleased with the efforts that Northconnex, Lend Lease and Hornsby Council have made to maintain a viable loop of at least 5-6km during the filling period. It seems to me that this process is on the right track, but further detail will be needed on both design and financing so that the trails can be reconfigured and access maintained. As someone who knows the area well, the following initiatives seem to me critical if this is to happen:

1. A culvert will need to be constructed under the Bridge Street access road near where the Tech Track currently joins the fire road so that the trail can cross.

2. A crossing, likely a bridge, will need to be constructed across the conveyor belt near the end of the trail known as Turkey Royale in order to maintain access to the Lava Flow trails.

3. Some minor refinement of the fence line will make a huge difference, allowing substantial amounts of trail to remain open, for example Turkey Royale, which runs behind the meadow where the fill will be staged, and the rock armoured section of the Lava Flow climb near the access road on the northern boundary of the construction area. These small realignments were discussed on site with representatives from LLB, Northconnex and Council and seemed plausible and logical to all present. Due to the topography on site in these areas it makes sense to place the fence on an alignment which saves the trails.

4. It would be useful to have a crossing where the trail known as Romsey Street runs parallel to the fire road. As this part of the access road will not be used by trucks carrying fill, perhaps mountain bikers can still cross safely at this point since sight lines are excellent along the road in both directions.

Reconfiguration of the trails outside of the fenced area is largely a matter for Hornsby Council, but I urge Northconnex to support --both financially and logistically -- the construction of the new trails which will be necessary to maintain a useable network, since it is because of the Quarry filling that the beginner trails will have to be relocated.

Thank you for your proactive approach in planning this major project so that access can be maintained to a substantial network of mountain bike trails during the quarry filling. I appreciate the effort made so far and hope that all the details can be worked out to the benefit of the trails.

I would like to draw attention to issues which will occur with the proposed haulage route exiting the quarry site during peak hours (Yirra Road, Belmont Parade, Kuring-gai Chase Road and M1).
 The planned route passes through a residential area.
 Mount Colah Public School is located at the end of Belmont Parade. During Peak hours the route from Pacific Highway-Yirra Road- Belmont Parade is very busy with school drop off's and many children walk to and from school, they should be able to safely walk to and from school without worrying about large haulage trucks.
 The length of the trucks carrying the spoil is listed as 17.5 metres long. The trucks are simply too long for a safe right hand turn onto Belmont Parade from Yirra Road.
 Royston Parade (the other end of Belmont Parade) is sign posted as not for trucks over 3 Tonne, why are trucks allowed on the Belmont Parade end of the street?
 The planned peak hour route is the main access route for all local traffic to the M1 for the morning commute to the City (Pacific Highway) or the Hills District (Pennant Hills Road), also the Quarry project is just one of many development projects being undertaken in the area, the study of the traffic flow on Kuring-gai Chase Road onto the M1 MUST take into account all new apartment buildings and the future population explosion of the region. Kuring-gai Chase Road is not sufficient for the future increased traffic flow.
 Kuring-gai Chase Road is an entry road to the Kuring-gai Chase National Park and is very popular with road cyclists. Cyclists generally ride before or after work and early Saturday Mornings. As there are no bike lanes on the road it would be hazardous to riders to have such large haulage trucks on the road.
Possible solutions to the above problems could be;
 Trucks could continue along the Pacific Highway and use the Berowra entry to the M1. This will ensure the trucks do not pass through residential areas, do not pose risks to school children and cyclists, and they would be travelling on a road and on-ramp to the M1 which can safely handle such large trucks.
 The RTA holds a strip of vacant land which runs parallel to Kuring-gai Chase Road, it joins Yirra Road and its purpose is to become a future on-ramp to the M1 from the Pacific Highway. Given the explosion in Apartment development in the area; which will result in increased traffic flow, on top of the increased traffic flow from the Quarry, it may be time to build this new on-ramp.

I object to the proposal because of the increased traffic on the Pacific Highway and George Street. It will be very difficult to exit
our area to attend Hornsby Hospital or the Sydney Adventist
Hospital which we do very regularly because of my husbands
health problems. There are already many heavy trucks on our roads with all the unit building in the area. There are also two schools in the area which also add to traffic problems.
Also all the exhaust fumes from all the trucks will be very
detrimental to everyones health I hope all these considerations are taken into account when the decision is made.

My concern is around access to Bridge St (in Hornsby) being closed off to Roper Lane. The traffic lights at the corner of Bridge St and Peats Ferry Road are the way to get to Hornsby, and having it closed off will cause significant disruption. If this thoroughfare must be closed off, please consider installing some traffic lights at either Summers Avenue (preferred) or Watson Avenue to allow traffic to get access to Hornsby.

Hi,

I am a Hornsby resident & homeowner, at 5 Watson Avenue. This is near to the proposed site haulage entrance via Bridge Road. I travel on Bridge Road multiple times daily, either crossing it on foot or kick-scooter, or cycling along it between Roper Lane and Peats Ferry Road. I also regularly exit Watson Avenue onto Peats Ferry Road.

I support in principle the plan to use NorthConnex spoilage to in-fill the quarry. This will eventually benefit Hornsby residents, and will mean shorter haulage distances with lower total impact. However, I have some strong concerns and questions about traffic impact, near to Bridge Road at the junction of Peats Ferry Road.

1) There is limited room for westbound vehicles to queue at the Peats Ferry Road / Bridge Road junction, without blocking Fire Service vehicles from entering or exiting the fire station. This could cause unreasonable delay in fire service responses, and tailbacks in all directions. Have the NSW Fire Service approved the traffic plans?

2) Closure of the Bridge Road / Roper Lane junction will have high impact on local traffic. This route is used by local traffic from northerly streets who need to turn southbound onto Peats Ferry Road or east onto Bridge Road. Traffic on this road section at peak hours is heavy. Turning right from Summers Avenue or Watson Avenue onto Peats Ferry Road is not an appropriate alternative route; this is an extremely unsafe maneuver at all times, and almost impossible during peak hours. There will be more road accidents on Peats Ferry Road if Roper Lane is closed. More detailed plans are needed regarding road closures and parking changes on Bridge Road. These should detail the number of vehicles & journeys impacted, and the planned measures to mitigate any foreseeable problems. Additional traffic lights on Roper Lane should be considered, instead of a full closure.

3) Why has consideration not been giving to using a circular haulage route, with traffic entering the site via Bridge road, and exiting via Quarry Lane? This would reduce both traffic volume and noise at Bridge Road.

Regards,

Jon Wilson, PhD
5 Watson Ave
Hornsby

To whom it may concern.
I am writing to express my concerns about the proposed truck routes through Asquith and Mt Colah.
The Northconnex project team has identified the non peak hour return routes as travelling North via Jersey St Asquith, Pacific Hwy Asquith / Mt Colah before making a right turn over the rail bridge at Yirra Rd before turning left into Belmont Pde and returning to the compound entrance at Wahroonga.
The intersection of Yirra Rd and Belmont Pde is extremely tight and can very quickly become congested with traffic heading onto the Pacific Hwy from the M1 off ramp at Mt Colah.
Large truck and trailer combination rigs will find this a difficult turn with vehicles backed up at the traffic lights and also traffic trying to cross or turn right from Pierre Close.
The potential for an accident here is very high.
What is your contingency to ameliorate the potential for an accident ?
These trucks will be under time pressure to complete load, tip and return cycles during the 5 hour window using this route.
These trucks will also be travelling empty and there will be noise and road damage issues resulting from this intensive use.
What is the estimated number of truck movements during this period ?
Will there be truck movements along this route on Saturdays ?
Has the rail bridge been assessed for its suitability to cope with this increased truck volume?
Will tax payers have to foot the bill for any repairs post construction to this bridge and road surfaces ?
Asquith and Mt Colah are currently undergoing a significant increase in density with new developments currently underway and there will be additional truck movements as a consequence of these projects.
Has this been taken into account in your planning assessment ?
I also have some pretty serious concerns about the as yet undiscovered potential for the instability of the Quarry walls to delay this project and expose the taxpayer to an open ended financial liability.
Previous geotechnical reports have raised some very serious concerns about this as well.
Dewatering the site could exacerbate this instability from the outset.
What is the contingency for remediation of this instability ?
Is there a budget ? and who will be liable for any additional cost inputs.
As far as I can see Northconnex are contributing nothing other than spoil into this project.
Thank you for considering this submission.
Steve Ackerman

Galston Area Residents' Association Inc.


Secretary: John Inshaw

33 Arcadia Road, Galston 2159





4th September 2014

The Director,
Department of Planning and the Environment
Sydney. NSW.

Hornsby Quarry Road Construction Spoil Management Project.

Our association wishes to express its concerns and object to the proposed plan to truck Northconnex tunnel spoil through the already congested central business district of Hornsby in order to dump the spoil into the Hornsby Quarry. We also have concerns regarding the geotechnical assessment regarding issues of stability of the quarry surrounds.

The movement of b-double dump trucks along the proposed route is completely unacceptable to our group and I am sure to the majority of Hornsby residents who will be subject to a constant flow of b-doubles through Hornsby for the extended period of time proposed in the EIS. There is the obvious safety issue of these b-doubles negotiating the sharp bends especially at Bridge Road and Mount Colah at Yirra Road and Belmont Road. These intersections are already loaded to capacity during peak traffic periods.
The inconvenience of traffic congestion caused by these trucks for such a long time is an unreasonable imposition to inflict on the community. We believe the constant noise, dust pollution and additional diesel fumes from the trucks is environmentally irresponsible. This is an imposition that residents and visitors to the area should not have to endure.

The quarry is currently unstable. Past geotechnical studies have warned of the surrounds slipping into the void. We believe the studies undertaken by the Department are inadequate and we have no confidence in the claims that this exercise is safe. We do not accept that the studies performed by geotechnical experts in the past were wrong. The community expects an exceptionally high standard when assessing this problem.

We recommend that additional studies be undertaken to ensure that the stability of the surrounding land is not compromised, especially in the Manor Road precinct.

Further we believe that a tunnel containing a conveyor from the portal to the quarry would be the best and most economical means of transporting the spoil to the Quarry. This would be the most environmentally responsible method to do this.

Thirdly, we recommend more stringent geotechnical studies be undertaken to convince the community that the integrity of the quarry is not compromised.

Yours sincerely,

John Inshaw.