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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: GOODWOOD JUNCTION RAIL GRADE SEPARATION

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (15:57): I move:

That the 463rd report of the committee, the Goodwood Junction Rail Grade Separation, be noted.

This project has a capital cost of $110 million and will be complete in September 2013. The existing Goodwood rail junction is an at-grade crossing of the single track standard gauge interstate railway line and the broad gauge double track Seaford passenger line. This crossing is located in a narrow corridor, which is constrained by three road level crossings: the Goodwood railway station (including a pedestrian underpass), the Glenelg tramway overpass and the Goodwood Road underpass.

At present, the interstate main line has two points at both Goodwood and Torrens junctions where the suburban passenger lines cross over, causing delays to the interstate trains as they wait for the suburban passenger trains to pass. Following investigations by the DPTI into the feasibility of grade separation options, a rail underpass was identified as providing the most cost-effective solution, particularly considering the narrow rail corridor, potential impacts on the adjacent road network, access to local businesses and residential properties, and a range of environmental and social implications.

Grade separation of the Goodwood rail junction will remove the current at-grade crossing of the Seaford line and the ARTC line. This will greatly improve train operational efficiency by enabling both lines to be open for uninterrupted use. The Goodwood Junction rail grade separation program includes design and construction of the following elements to ensure operation of DPTI electric and diesel passenger trains and interstate services on the ARTC line:

grade separation of the Seaford rail line from the ARTC interstate line

grade separation of the Seaford line from the existing Victoria Street level crossing

realignment of the existing Brown Hill Creek drainage channel to facilitate the above works

pedestrian and cycling facilities

Keswick station upgrade, which will be delivered at a later stage and does not form part of this submission.

Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (16:00): I thank the member for Mitchell for that report. Doing a report on something that he had nothing to do with is a bit difficult, but he accomplished it well. The opposition members of the committee supported this project and I am only too happy to stand up and say a few words about it. Interestingly enough, as the member for Mitchell indicated, the other aspect of it, the Wayville Keswick station, was to come in at a later stage and when the report was written that was indeed so. But we actually dealt with that matter this morning in Public Works, so that will come in the not too distant future for us to discuss also.

It is worth noting in relation to this Goodwood project that ultimately state and federal governments, via one persuasion or another, are going to have to deal with this whole issue of freight trains coming into Adelaide through the Adelaide Hills and down through this area. It has been talked about for years and someone is going to have to bite the bullet, so to speak, in the end.

There has been a lot of talk about bringing in a new freight rail through the north of Adelaide and coming down through that way, so that is going to be an enormous project when it happens, but with our increasing urbanisation and with the amount of population now in the Adelaide Hills and the pressures on the metropolitan area, eventually, as I say, governments of one persuasion or another are going to have to deal with it. In supporting the report in front of the parliament, I have just a few words to say. My colleague the member for Waite is unable to be in here at the moment, but we support the project.

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (16:02): I would like to contribute to this debate seeing as Ashford is a complete building site at the moment, and I would also like to thank the Public Works Committee for allowing me to make a submission on behalf of residents in the Ashford electorate who are directly affected by this project, the Goodwood Junction rail grade separation project.

As has already been mentioned, there are also other projects that are happening at the same time: the electrification of the rail track; we have a stormwater mitigation project going on at the same time, particularly with regard to the Brown Hill Creek drainage area; and we have a Greenways project connecting up both bikeways and the pedestrian areas in the electorate; and, as has been mentioned, the Public Works Committee this morning were considering a project with regard to the Wayville Station project and the associated drainage that will go with that. I think the nightmare of the building works will continue in Ashford right up until December.

The point that has been raised by the member for Finniss is one that I also wanted to raise. Residents have for a long time, and I know this affects other electorates as well, campaigned against having a freight train going through the middle of the suburbs. I would agree, although trains are a good option for moving freight, having them run through the middle of the suburbs is of real concern.

In fact, some people have explained to me that, now with all the works that are going on, they will actually be able to touch the train going past because of the way the track has been moved and also the fact we have had houses demolished and changes to people's boundaries. While they were close to the freight train before, and being able to touch the freight train may be a slight exaggeration, it certainly is a concern if you are living next door to it.

The people in Ashford have had to put up with not only the four projects but also the associated problems that go with them. I can see the health of a number of constituents deteriorating as the noise continues and, as much as they are prepared to look at the noise being something that is associated with the works that are happening in Ashford, they really want to make sure that there is noise abatement in regard to the ongoing number of trains, both passenger and freight trains, that will be going through Ashford.

They are saying, 'We want to see development and things improve, and we understand why trains are important as a transport carrier. We support all that, but we want to make sure, at the end of it, that the place actually looks reasonable, so we are very keen that the design and landscaping that has been promised will happen alongside that; but, also, we want to make sure that we are going to have proper attention paid to the noise that will be ongoing as a result of these changes.'

Not only has it been noisy but it has also been very dirty and, when the weather was hot, having dust blowing around the electorate has been very difficult for many people to cope with. I think some measures have been taken by Department of Transport contractors in regard to that, but it has certainly been an issue. Rubble has been piled at the front of people's places, and a couple of businesses have contacted me recently and said, 'We know there are going to be some difficulties having such a project, but why does the rubble have to be out the front of my shop and why can't it be moved efficiently?'

With the rail closures, we have had an increase in the number of buses providing public transport because, of course, people who would normally travel on the train are now on the bus, and there have been some real concerns about the route of some of those buses. People are saying, 'Why do we have to have additional buses through the middle of East Avenue, for example, and Victoria Street, when we already have a bus service going through that way?' and, 'Why can't the people from the south come down Cross Road and Goodwood Road or Marion Road?' and, 'Why do we have to have the extra buses going through the middle of the suburbs?' Those are all questions that I have been raising with the appropriate ministers.

Because we are going to have a great big cavern for the passenger trains to go through at the end of this project, obviously there have been lots of trucks of soil being shifted around the electorate. There have been calls on many of the streets in Ashford for the speed of the vehicles that are now going down those streets, particularly Leah Street (that is, the trucks, buses and general increase in traffic during this project) to go down to 25 km/h while the works are happening. They are not saying that should happen at night—although sometimes the works go from seven in the morning until 10 at night, seven days a week. They are saying, 'We want this project to be over as quickly as possible, too, but there needs to be more consideration for the people who live in this area who are here all the time.'

I am very pleased that the Department of Transport has seen fit to provide a forum for discussions, which is a consultative advisory group (CAG) that has been set up. One of the problems I can see with the CAG is that it meets every second Wednesday. It usually meets when parliament is sitting, so I cannot possibly go to any meetings—not that I was invited to be involved by the department or the contractors. The council is represented, and we are very blessed that there are at least 10 residents at every meeting who are prepared to put in the time to talk about all the issues at those CAG meetings to try to make sure that the contractors and the departments are very clear about the major ongoing issues for people.

So, I think it is a good forum but I can really see people getting fatigued at going to so many different meetings. They go to a meeting in their own street, they will go to the almighty Goodwood Residents Action Group meetings, and they really try hard to make sure everybody's issues are taken up. I will take this opportunity to congratulate the Goodwood Residents Action Group and the different street groups that are now set up in Ashford and I hope that they will continue to do their work and make sure that they keep both the Unley Council and me up-to-date with what we can do to advocate on their behalf.

Motion carried.

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