Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection

I am concerned that the Beaches Link tunnel should not proceed until much further thought has been given to quite a few areas:
1) the data was based on pre-Covid working from home traffic patterns.
Many people will no longer be working in the city on a regular basis . The traffic patterns the tunnel project was based on is outdated and needs to be re-researched. It is hard to estimate future traffic usage to therefore justify the need for the tunnel at this point in time
2) As the unfiltered stack at the base of Balgowlah Golf course is at the bottom of a hill, the plume with the high concentration of toxic waste will be at the same height as the nearby local schools of Balgowlah Boys high School, St Cecilias school, Seaforth Public School and local pre-schools. This is very dangerous for the growing brains of these children, as well as the local people that live in close proximity to the stack, at the top of the hill. If the tunnel is to proceed it is absolutely essential that the stacks MUST be filtered.
3) As well as the toxic chemicals those children will be breathing in, the noise will likely affect their learning through the school day, over several years which can have a large impact on their life's education
4) Construction of the tunnel will stir up toxic sediment that will then move to local swimming beaches in Middle harbour. Will the government continue testing of water in these areas after the tunnel has been completed to ensure it is safe for locals? Part of what everyone loves about the Northern Beaches lifestyle is swimming at these beautiful, safe harbour beaches
5) Local wildlife and ecosystems will be destroyed along Wakehurst Parkway, Burnt Bridge creek, near manly dam with the destruction of their habitats
6) The congestion in local streets in Balgowlah will likely increase by a large amount, once again this is near local schools so it will likely increase the risk of injury to many children. This will also cause delays to many people to get to where they are going, which will negate any possible gains made in the tunnel
7) There will be a large number of contractors working at the sites, with very little parking available. In Balgowlah, there is already little local parking available as local bus routes have been further cut recently, so people come from other places and park in local streets to then ride on buses to the city. Where will all the construction workers park their vehicles?
8) Reduced travel times made by the tunnel will likely only last for a few years then travel times will be back to where they were before the (very expensive $10 billion) tunnel was built. This is what has happened in most new roads built in Sydney
9) The EIS states that there will be only a 10% reduction in traffic on Military Road and slightly shorter travel times to the city. The benefits are so small compared to the extremely high cost (over $10 billion) and risks to the health of children and local people, and negative effects on the local environment as outlined above.
For all the above reasons I strongly object to the Beaches Link tunnel. if however it does proceed you must take into account the impacts to the local people and environment as discussed above.

The tunnel is being built on priceless green belt land that will harm the environment from a natural perspective and also present a serious hazard to the local north balgowlah community. The filter/smoke tunnels will release over houses, a school, the manly dam. It is totally unacceptable. Strongly object and will join others to protest against this poor decision. Please listen to the people who live here whose lives will be very negatively impacted.

1) The Environmental Impact Statement has not adequately assessed the impact of workers arriving and departing the construction support sites (with no quantum of worker parking available) within the Artarmon area, both ffor traffic impact and parking demand. The EIS states that workers will be encouraged to use public transport, however, the nearest train stations (St Leonards and Artarmon) are located approximately 800 to 1,000 metres from the construction sites. This is considered to be at the limit of what is feasible as a transport hub - to - work trip, and thus the construction impact should assess the likelihood of workers driving to the construction sites and using surrounding on-street parking instead. It is recommended that this assessment occur for local intersections intersections and parking demand assessment.
2) The EIS states that the conversion of the existing T2 lanes on the Gore Hill Freeway would not "materially affect bus travel times" however, from first hand experience travelling in both the general traffic lane and T2 lanes along the Gore Hill Freeway during peak hours, this is not the case. The T2 lanes during peak hours afford buses, motorcycles and those in higher occupancy vehicles, to travel at higher travel speeds than the other general traffic lanes due to reduced lane demand. The EIS is not accurate in this regard, and has not provided any proof that the T2 lanes provide no benefit for bus travel speeds. The conversion of the T2 lane to a general traffic lane will impact the viability of all buses travelling between Lane Cove and beyond, and Sydney CBD. It is noted that during peak hours, bus headways between these two locations can be approximately one bus every three minutes in the peak direction.
3) Considering the estimated construction period of four years, the proposed closure of the Gore Hill Freeway Shared Path will have a large impact on cyclists travelling between Sydney CBD and the Lower North Shore and beyond. The proposed closure of the Gore Hill Freeway Shared Path will extend the current distance between Reserve Road and Francis Street from approximately 700 metres to 1,300 metres, which is approximately an 85 per cent increase in distance. Additionally, the detour adds a number of turns at priority-controlled intersection which will add significant travel time in as well as the added elevation that navigating Francis Street and Lambs Road will incur. Numerous cycle planning reports have indicated that these two streets, apart from having a narrow bridge at the Lambs Road / Francis Street intersection with poor sightlines, have extremely challenging elevation to traverse. Furthermore, the diversion of cyclists and pedestrians from a separated shared path to streets trafficked by heavy vehicles, trade vehicles and construction vehicles increase the risk of cyclist-vehicle and pedestrian-vehicle crashes. Heavy and construction vehicles, have larger blind spots and longer stopping distances, and when paired with higher kinetic energies transferred in crashes, will have a high-severe risk outcome (using TfNSW Road Safety Auditing practices).
The EIS has not adequately assessed the impact of the intended detour using industry-standard guidelines for cycle planning, such as the NSW Bicycle Guidelines (RMS, 2005), nor has it undertaken any safety assessments of the detour in light of the presence of a high proportion of heavy vehicles in the area. It is recommended that these be undertaken to understand the detrimental impacts that this detour has on the walking and cycling network in the area, including from a safety perspective, but also from potential for users to remode from active transport to cars, buses and trains (which are already at their peaks during the peak hours). Unless a safe and like-for-like alternative is provided, the proposed detour for the Artarmon construction sites should be considered unsafe and unsuitable as they materially impact the community and present an unnecessary safety risk.

I object to the Beaches Link tunnel project because of its negative affects on our climate and its terrible sustainability outcomes that will impact our precious waterways and green spaces. The money would be better spent on giving us a world class public transport network which would ultimately lead to better travel times. Tunnels historically have proven to increase travel times and polluting car usage.

I also object based on my sons high school, balgowlah boys, being 322 metres from a proposed exhaust stack. Which is completely unacceptable.
Regards
Katherine

I would like to voice my concerns regarding the Beaches tunnel and its impending impact on the local community, our local schools, the environment including Manly dam and its future biodiversity. My main concern is the unfiltered smokestacks, the location of the smokestacks with the proximity to Seaforth Primary School the impact on other local primary schools and my concern for my young families health. We are a local community in North Balgowlah who has seen traffic increase through our village streets ten fold over the last few years. Our kids health and lives are at risk if we furthermore increase the traffic thoroughfare while the tunnel is being built. We will loose our green beautiful golf course and many homes will be devalued during the build process. The noise of the trucks and the roadworks, the pollution of the smoke stacks will be detrimental to our residents. We are a few hundred meters away from Manly Dam which is a nature paradise where we spend time bush walking, riding bikes and getting fresh air. This will be destroyed and the bio diversity will be impaired. We love living in the Northern Beaches and we want to keep our air clean, our beaches clean and our nature reserves thriving. Please reconsider the building of the beaches link tunnel and look at other ways to ease the traffic flow into the city .

I object to the Beaches Link project on a number of grounds, as listed below:
1. THE BUSINESS CASE DOES NOT STACK UP: The published benefits of the project, in terms of reduced travel times and reduced traffic flows on existing roads, are patently inadequate when compared with the estimated cost of $10billion, the environmental damage, the inconvenience to local residents of the construction itself and the traffic chaos that would ensue around the tunnel entrances. The projected traffic volumes have not been adjusted for the permanent shift to home-working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. AIR QUALITY: The building of unfiltered exhaust stacks in the heavily built-up areas around the tunnel entrances falls short of world's best practice. The EIS projections of air quality in Manly Vale and Balgowlah defy basic common sense, and irresponsibly ignore the close proximity of a number of schools and child care centres.
3. ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE: The current design is far too damaging to the natural environment, particularly to Burnt Bridge Creek (reduced flows), the waterways around the Spit Bridge (toxic sediment disturbance) and the bushland around the Wakehurst Parkway between Frenchs Forest and Seaforth (water run-off and wildlife).
4. LOCAL TRAFFIC DISRUPTION: The design of the roads servicing the entrance at Balgowlah is completely inadequate, and will result in traffic queues, rat runs and increased risk to pedestrians attempting to travel to the various schools around the proposed tunnel entrance e.g. Balgowlah Boys and St. Cecilias Primary School.
5. CONSTRUCTION IMPACTS: The projected heavy vehicle movements and construction noise around the Balgowlah entrance are completely unacceptable to local residents. Site operation hours MUST be reduced to normal work hours - 24/7 operation in such a heavily built-up area cannot be justified.

I object to the proposal, as the return on benefits does not compensate the costs and the huge impact in the community. I love the place where I live, and by adding this motorway you are not solving me a problem, you are adding more traffic into my community that already has heavy traffic There is no place to build more parking, so not sure how we will be able to support the extra amount of cars during the weekend. I am not saying that people doesn't have the rights to come in, we welcome everyone, but then provide better public transport. Pollution is another important thing specially considering the amount of schools in the area. How can I ask my son to enjoy going to school if he will be affected during 6 years by having the construction across the road? I am sure if it would be your son, you would not be happy neither. I am a simple person that embrace changes and improvements to our community, but it seems you are rushing on a decision and not taking everything into consideration.

This is not the kind of Infrastructure the Northern Beaches Community needs. It will solve no traffic issues but will congest our roads further. It will impact Home, schools and recreational facilities. A new bridge at the Spit, a light rail as proposed from Dee Why to Chatswood which services the Hospital would be much more welcome alternatives.
Please review and rethink. This is not something the Community welcomes and will not bring add benefit to the region.

I object to this project due to the social and environmental damage it will cause, exacerbated by the fact that it is an unnecessary, white elephant project. There will clearly be negative health effects on people who live and work in areas such as Cammeray due to excessive amounts of poisonous fumes that will be emitted from the exhaust chimneys. There is also the loss of trees and plant life such as at Cammeray golf course. It doesn't make sense to say these will be replicated elsewhere as we will still have lost what is currently an oasis of green space, to be replaced by an enormous industrial facility. The construction of the original freeway already had a severe impact on the North Sydney & Cammeray areas by splitting the suburbs in two, let's not repeat this mistake. Also of particular concern are the environmental impacts around Flat Rock Gully and down into Tunks Park and the waters of Middle Harbour. There will be noise impacts on local residents, despoiling of fragile natural habitats, and pollution of waterways. There is no community need for such a tunnel when the residents of the Northern Beaches would be much better served by an option such as the proposed link from Dee Why to Chatswood where they can then connect to the new metro service. Surely if there was a justification for this ridiculous waste of money then the business case would have been publicly released. Cancel this absurdly expensive project, protect the environment and the people, and come up with a transport plan that fits how people live in the 21st century.

Full support for the project - long overdue!
Good to see the the alignment and upgrade of Wakehurst Parkway to link to the recent Nth Beaches Hospital road upgrade.
Looking forward to this being approved, funded and completed

I object to this project on essentially every level: No benefit to the local community but only negative impacts in the form of air, water and soil pollution; increased traffic and noise; impact on local wildlife and fauna in Flat Rock Gully; pollution of Middle Harbour; no train option for the tunnel; no consideration of alternatives (i.e. connecting the Northern Beaches area to the Chatswood train hub for the CBD); no real reduction of traffic on Military Road; $14bn of expense as it stands now and these projects ALWAYS go well over budget (i.e. Light Rail). What is the purpose of this project and who is it going to benefit in the long run besides Transurban who will be collecting high priced tolls for the next 40 years? Stop this madness now!

Please advise the requirement to build the carpark, off the link road as part of this project. This carpark is primarily an asset for the Northern Beaches Council redevelopment of the Balgowlah Golf Club. By making the carpark part of the Beaches Link Tunnel construction works, the approval of the carpark in the tunnel EIS dictates golf course redevelopment, which is not approved, indeed the public have not been given an opportunity to comment on.

I understand the carpark will be used for contractors during the construction works, however this is not explained in the submission and alternatives within or without the site boundary should be considered.

Please advise on all the circumstances where tunnel construction will be given dispensation to operate outside their approved construction hours / days at the Balgowlah sites.

Are there any works which will be allowed to take place without approval outside the approved working hours.

Will contractors who are working inside the tunnel with 24 hour approvals be allowed to access the surface site at Balgowlah outside the approved construction hours.

Will site access be available outside approved construction hours for any people or vehicles.

What are the range of penalties available if these rules are broken.

Please advise of the criteria which trees 20322 and 20321 have been deemed to have a 'direct impact' consequence in the arboricultural assessment, due to the tunnel construction works.
In an effort to retain trees to assist with neighbours who will be effected by noise, dust and other environmental consequences of the tunnel construction , these trees give neighbours sound, sight and amenity enhancement and their retention would be highly valued.

I live in the Northern Beaches and strongly object to the project. There has been a significant change since the tunnel was proposed - Covid-19 has completely altered working habits which are unlikely to ever return to the way they were - traffic along Military Road is much reduced. This project has become even more unnecessary and any benefits are significantly outweighed by the extensive cost and detriment to the local community and environment. A slight reduction in commute time for a small proportion of people is not worth the costs of this project - the damage to the area where I live is extensive - some impacts are temporary, albeit many years of temporariness (the noise and traffic issues around Balgowlah) but many will be permanent (the loss of trees, including habitat for threatened species at Manly Dam and Burnt Bridge creek, the damage to harbour ecosystems from dredging, the impact on air quality from the stacks near Balgowlah boys school). Please reconsider this project.

I object to the project due to the lack of information provided in the EIS. There is little, if any, information on the impact the Tunnel will have on traffic flows, pollution, safety and quality of life on areas outside of the direct line of the Tunnel, such as Balgowlah Heights, Fairlight, Manly, Queenscliff, etc. There is some information that cars exiting at Condamine will increase by over 1.5 million per year. Yet there is little information on the impacts on Sydney Road, Lauderdale Avenue, White Street, Pittwater Road, etc. More cars means there will be more drivers which don't live in the area, more pollution, more noise and more incidents of unsafe driving yet there is no information on how local communities will be effected or any plan or funding on how they can manage the increased flows of traffic. Any Tunnel approval should be conditioned on the provision of funding and infrastructure plans for the local communities to deal with increased traffic flow. State government should be prepared to compensate residents if it can be demonstrated that quality of life is negatively affected by the Tunnel. Simply shifting congestion from Military Road to Sydney Road is not a responsible approach to infrastructure planning. The Tunnel proposal should also incorporate plans to reduce tailpipe pollution and car noise through improvement in public transport services, increased electrification of public transport and cars (reduced Tunnel charges) and higher efficiency standards. The dumping of 1.5 million additional vehicles in the southern Northern Beaches area should not allowed, without investment in infrastructure and transport pollution control.

I strongly object to the building of the beaches link tunnel. I object on the grounds that the stacks will be unfiltered and cause life long damage to thousands of residents in the area. They will also disrupt local schools and make it very dangerous in school areas especially Balgowlah Boys. The whole area will be turned into a building site for 5 plus years. Heavy trucks and noise through out the area. The burnt bridge creek area will loose water and biodiversity will be lost forever. My main concern is that this project is not environmentally friendly and going in the wrong direction for the future. I object that no alternative train route has been costed up for the project. We need to be getting people out of cars onto public transport. No sufficient cycle path exists for the tunnel or seperate bus route. The project will end costing more than 14 billion and we will need to pay to use it so it will not be viable to drive into the city anyway. Why not just put a congestion charge on the CBD area and improve public transport. Why has the government stopped buses along Wakehurst parkway we should be encouraging people to use buses and ferries or cycle. I can not support this project and hope that in the future a metro link is put in place Dee why to Chatswood via Frenchs forest with Park and ride areas and bus hub or cylcle network to the metro stations.

This project concerns me for many reasons including: water pollution, insufficient street parking when trucks and workers arrive to start digging, traffic congestion during construction which could take five years. I have been living in the area for 25 years in the area, I’m a senior with a physical disability and I’m worried about what this project means about being to easily get to my medical appointments and to the hospital. I also have concerns about the traffic pollution in the tunnel once it is built and the fumes that may affect children at Seaforth Primary and Balgowlah Boys High.

The project as it stands today, is very far from 21st century, first-world development as it does not provide significant enhancements and remediation to the communities affected during its construction and once it starts its operation.
During its construction phase, the communities surrounding the building sites will receive the ill effects of noise and vibration having significant impact on the health and rest of the people, particularly those who stay at home for health reasons (sick and elderly) and more recently all those whose work arrangements have changed since the pandemic and have the choice of working from home. On top of that, the movement of heavy and light vehicles will cause major disruptions in those street that are not prepared to handle such amount of increased traffic, especially that of heavy vehicles.
During the operation, the worsened air quality in close proximity to schools and residential area, will have severe health and environmental effects on the human as well as the animal populations. It seems unreal that a project of this magnitude does not have the highest standards of air filtering and of appropriate disposal of the emissions generated in its interior, one does is not just thrown out into the air through massive buildings that affect the landscape and its surroundings, and losing green areas which are key to the existing natural balance around it.
Furthermore, in particular the Balgowlah exit of the tunnel is put in a place in the middle of residential and school areas, in circumstances that there's other areas close by (Condamine Street between Balgowlah road and Koorala Street) which have a much more commercial/industrial profile and therefore affect negatively much fewer people, whilst still granting very good access to the residential areas and beaches to those using the tunnel.
In a State like NSW, which aims to be at the forefront of development and quality of life for its residents, it's incredible to see the lack of care imposed by the existing project to the residents of all the communities surrounding the project; in particular, all the detrimental health and environmental effects during the building and operation of the project, and the accompanying effects of increased traffic without the support of enhanced infrastructure to support it. Whilst the project may be good for some communities, it comes at a huge cost for the communities surrounding the building sites and the project does not consider a reasonable remedial action towards these communities, which will bear this cost for decades to come.

I object to this project on the following grounds:
Contamination of Flat Rock Gully and Middle Harbour. The plan is to construct a dive site in the Flat Rock area. This would release contaminants that we know to be present in the area due to its having been used as a general dump over a long period of years. These contaminants would be flushed down Flat Rock Gully and into Long Bay. In addition, the projected construction work in Middle Harbour would disturb and release contaminants that we know to be present on the harbour bed.
Pollution of the local area. This project would, if allowed, produce high levels of noise, dust and air pollution in the local area, not only during construction but as a permanent feature. The plan envisages pollution stacks adjacent to a public school. We already know the damage this would cause to the breathing systems of developing young people. I have grand children , one with asthma, so this is very much on my mind. I myself have serious breathing problems which would be exacerbated by both the construction and the ongoing pollution in the air. This would degrade the local environment for all people who live in the area. The environment would be degraded further by increased traffic on local roads both during construction and afterwards with drivers seeking to escape paying tolls.
We would lose uncounted trees and wildlife habitats, not to mention precious recreation space in the area which is already under strain. This cannot be remediated by offsets elsewhere. We have rare birds as well as powerful owls, bandicoots, possums, echidnas, small bats and literally hundreds of other species. This project would add further to pollution by forcing people into using their cars instead of much more environmentally acceptable public transport.
Public Transport. There is a far cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative by building mass a transit system from Dee Why to Chatswood, as well as a Neutral Bay metro. So far, these solutions have not even been considered.
Cost. This is a massively expensive project for which there is no justification, no business case. It would add to the toll charges, already too high, that Sydneysiders would be forced to pay simply to get around the city. What is proposed is a 1960s solution to a 21st century problem. No other state in the Western World would even contemplate such a damaging, destructive and backward project such as this. While the rest of the world is removing traffic from city centres Sydney seeks to lock itself into vehicle use and the degradation that they bring.
Utility. Any traffic reduction on Military Road achieved by this project would soon be lost in any case as more traffic is attracted to tunnels. This has been the experience all over the world which is why all cities have abandoned road building as a way of moving people around cities.
The measure of any construction project should be the effect on the lives of the citizens of Sydney. This project would, if ever it were allowed, service the needs of the construction and toll companies to the detriment of the people of the area and the environment in which they live.