Subscribe to RSSSarawira Issue Hard To Resolve
Auckland’s new electric trains will be much quieter than the present diesels- but as they don’t arrive until 2013 onwards, that’s no relief to those residents presently troubled by noise issues.
And the electric ones won’t stop those rumbling long freight trains passing through.
More and more train stations have apartments nearby but if they’re new apartments, residents moving in know they have trains out their bedroom window at frequent intervals.
The noise from level crossings near residents is especially a troubling issue, judging by the regular emails to AKT.
The Sarawira Street level crossing in the well-heeled neighbourhood of Parnell, around the corner from Newmarket, is especially a trouble spot. Auckland Transport’s board meeting agenda recently described it as a “particular problem area for train operations.” Trains come to a virtual stop.
The Newmarket Community Association calls it the busiest level crossing in NZ.
Residents have met with KiwiRail to discuss grade separation and the bell noise.
A bit of vegetation has been removed from Sarawira but that's not the solution locals want
The key issues are the frequency of train services now travelling through the level crossing, signalling restrictions and intervals between the activation of the barrier arms.
You can’t blame the residents who live down the hill towards the crossing. There was never the frequency of trains in this well established neighbourhood until recently and during the decades when commuter trains were becoming extinct, you can’t blame them for never imagining the sort of revival of services we have today.
The AT report pointed out that the volume of rail traffic and lead times required for safe operations through level crossings mean that the barriers are down for lengthy periods in peak hours and there are few opportunities available to local residents to cross the tracks.
To accommodate the needs of the residents and give them sufficient time to cross the tracks some trains need to be signalled for low speed on approach.
This is how close Newmarket is from the Sarawira crossing
Auckland City Council and ARTA had developed a plan to grade separate the crossing however this will be a significant cost and no funding has been identified for the work to date.
AT has yet to suggest how to overcome this but does say alternative options are being explored as it considers “the existing situation is not sustainable in the long term.” That’s mild language for how some of the locals put it.
Apartment residents in less well heeled suburbs know they have a railway station next door so have to live with it especially as they watched the stations or upgrades taking place.
Te Papa is alongside an apartment
Onehunga apartment residents did initially object to the station being so close
Morningside apartment owners have had issues of their own with a leaky building
Look up standing on Newmarket's platforms and you can see their washing
17 Comments
No need for Sarawia Street crossing to be there in the first place. It services a very small catchment from Youngs Lane and Laxon Terrace, which could be serviced from Remuera Road by opening up a pedestrian walkway between Furneaux Way and Laxon Terrace.
Qu’ils mangent de la brioche!
@Commuter C’est un peu cruel!
Evan the idea of opening up the walkway from Furneaux Way for traffic would be is a great one. Surely it would be a much cheaper solution than a fully grade separated road crossing.
Auckland transport could do this by just purchasing one property or maybe only small chunks of land from the two adjacent sections. The cost associated with doing this and adding some sort of pedestrian over or underpass would be small in comparison to the current suggestion.
A third simple option which wouldn’t require land purchases would be to extend Laxon Tce down to the carpark of Newmarket Park.
“A third simple option which wouldn’t require land purchases would be to extend Laxon Tce down to the carpark of Newmarket Park.”
And destroy a new park that just got / is being redone? Apart from the rage of the locals, that sounds like killing a fly with a jackhammer.
Linking up to Furneaux Way and closing Sarawia for all but peds / cycles sounds the most logical. But watch the locals there complain about the extra 20-50 cars an hour…
The above suggestions to link that road with the one at the bottom of it are perfect.
But its the time old argument, buying near any transport arterial and then complaining about the noise is plain stupid.
Since Newmarket reopened freight trains have virtually ceased anyway on this section owing to its grade and the lengthy route using the eastern line.
The Furneaux Way idea is a non-starter: the roads in Broadway Park are privately owned, and the connecting walkway was deliberately constructed as such to stop any through traffic from Sarawia St/Youngs Lane/Laxon Tce.
The connecting walkway was probably deliberatly constructed to stop any through traffic, but if the level crossing is closed then there won’t be any through traffic, only the local Youngs Lane/Laxon Tce. A small purchase of private land to link put a road link to Furneaux Way and the problem goes away.
So definitely not a non-starter.
“But its the time old argument, buying near any transport arterial and then complaining about the noise is plain stupid.”
Not necessarily. If there is a lot of change from what it was when you bought it, one might question your soothsayer abilities, but not necessarily your integrity or intelligence. And the main issue with Sarawia is not just noise (as I understand it), but the sheer impracticality of retaining it on one of the busiest sections of Auckland rail…
“A small purchase of private land to link put a road link to Furneaux Way and the problem goes away.”
Might still have to be a compulsory aquisition, because the owners / occupiers of the two nearby houses remaining will NOT have any benefit…
But seeing that the only alternatives are absolutely humungous bridges (due to the height differences between both sides), this is what it may have to be, eventually.
When you look into it a bit more I don’t think it would be practical to buy a place along there and knock it down to connect it to Furneaux Way, on the western side you have a small apartment building with 5 apartments with a combined worth of about $2m (according to the council). On the other side there are 3 town houses attached to each other with a combined value of over $3m. Now obviously you could rebuild something on a smaller site to recover some of the costs but I just can’t see it happening.
I actually wonder if the solution is to extend Cowie St across then down alongside the tracks to link up to Laxon Tce, a bit longer but might be better at avoiding the nasty hills on either side.
@Matt It may only be local traffic from Laxon Tce and Youngs Lane, but I reckon there are at least 40 dwellings in those two roads, and Broadway Park residents will be unwilling to allow use of their private roads by people who do not pay for their upkeep. That’s in addition to the negative effects of additional traffic traversing the length of their private suburb.
@Matt, the walkway idea is indeed a non-starter, as the roads in Broadway Park are not public roads. The council has no right to move traffic onto them. The walkway only links to a public road at the north end, so conversion of the walkway into a road, will still not result in through access.
The solution is actually quite easy. Build a road from up by the Mobil, above the tunnel portal, and alongside Newmarket Park into Sarawia St.
The solution is don’t spend any more money on the crossing. The residents can live with it or move.
If this was Manurewa, Glen Innes or Otahuhu no one would give a damn.
Wasp, no one is really fussed about a few dozen housholders having to wait a few minutes to get their cars out… the much bigger issues is how 3/4 of Auckland’s train services run over that level crossing and the fact that they have a speed restriction over the crossing.
I would be hesitant to support and bridge or underpass in that location because sooner or later Newmarket junction is going to need some grade separation in that vicinity, most likely by going under if the mall development is ever built up top.
My suggestion would be to reconstruct the new Newmarket Park footpath as a roadway linking down the carpark. This needn’t be very wide to service only those few dwellings and it could be designed sympathetically to the park locale.
“combined worth of about $2m (according to the council). On the other side there are 3 town houses attached to each other with a combined value of over $3m. Now obviously you could rebuild something on a smaller site to recover some of the costs but I just can’t see it happening.”
$3 million would be a steal for removing that crossing, especially if a road from the north/northeast is not feasible. Any bridge solution would cost a lot more.
“as the roads in Broadway Park are not public roads. The council has no right to move traffic onto them.”
What? They may not be public roads through there, but Broadway Park itself is a public asset. Sure, it would have to go through a plan change or similar process, but Council can certainly move traffic through a park! Look at Auckland Domain.
I am not saying a route from the Mobil station or the park car park is the solution - but it certainly isn’t legally impossible either.
Ingolfson - re your comment “What? They may not be public roads through there, but Broadway Park itself is a public asset”: Broadway Park is not a park - it is a subdivision on private land.
Ironically of course it was once railway land, until Messrs Fay, Richwhite sold it.
“Broadway Park is not a park – it is a subdivision on private land.”
Maybe we are talking of the wrong things - I am talking of the PARK park northeast of Sarawia. My apologies, that is called “Newmarket Park”, not Broadway Park. Close but no cigar for me.