We all know the saying: “you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs” so as we drive along Mona Vale Road we watch the clearing of bushland accepting that local biodiversity will be affected.
Unfortunately reports are coming in from residents communicating that local fauna is being killed - three wallabies were killed on Mona Vale road, Monday night, June 3rd, 2019. Pittwater Online has also received reports from residents of Warriewood, one lady stating a wallaby was bounding down their street in the middle of the day last week, 'looking very distressed and scared'.
Local groups like PNHA along with other concerned community members are doing their best to see that the contractors take care to minimise the harm to local wildlife.
Recently PNHA and others have been involved in a campaign for temporary fauna fencing to be erected along Mona Vale Road West as it passes the site where land is being cleared in preparation for the new road. The roadwork is displacing native wildlife, including swamp wallabies, a number of which have been killed on nearby roads.
The campaign is being led by Jacqui Marlow of the Wildlife Roadkill Prevention Association who has informed PNHA this week that the contractors have agreed to put temporary fauna exclusion fencing in place and will start installing it soon.
We have also been advised that nest boxes have been installed to compensate for loss of nest sites within the construction zone. Forty boxes have been installed around Mona Vale Road East and another forty around Mona Vale Road West.
Of course we can all help out by slowing down our cars in these affected areas to minimise the likelihood of hitting these other local residents during this time.
Residents are also distressed by the loss of so many trees as the footprint of the roadworks expands. Landscaping does form part of the design although that, like the fauna bridge that is to be installed, is further along the scope of works timeline.
An Update (June 2019) was released this week which provides information on Night Works to take place during the next week and provides a map to show where these will occur:
Night Work Update
Night work during June will continue to involve tree clearing in various areas along Mona Vale Road between Manor Road and Daydream Street and removal of top soil.
We will also continue installing concrete barriers and access points to our work areas. This work will reduce our use of local roads and enable our vehicles and workers to access work sites directly from Mona Vale Road.
We will begin preparing the existing rock cuttings for earthworks. Road investigation work may also occur in June.
Night work is planned on the following days, weather permitting:
- Monday 3 June: 8pm – 5am
- Tuesday 4 June: 8pm – 5am
- Thursday 6 June: 8pm – 5am
- Tuesday 11 June: 8pm – 5am
- Thursday 13 June: 8pm – 5am
There will be noise and temporary traffic changes during this work. We will minimise noise where possible. Equipment used may include excavators, chain saws, lighting and small tools for the clearing work and a small roller and truck movements for the asphalt work.
Please register for work updates
If you have recently registered for updates please ignore this request. Please forward your name/s, address, preferred email and mobile number to: Call: 1800 413 640 Email: monavaleroad@georgiou.com.au
For more information about the project, visit rms.work/mvreast.
The key features of the Mona Vale Road East upgrade include:
- Widening Mona Vale Road between Manor Road, Ingleside and Foley Street, Mona Vale from two lanes to four lanes with a central concrete safety barrier. The concrete safety barrier would be located from east of Manor Road to west of Daydream Street
- Providing three metre wide shoulders along Mona Vale Road between Manor Road and Daydream Street to allow a safer area for breakdowns and on-road cyclists
- Replacing the existing roundabout on Mona Vale Road at the intersection of Ponderosa Parade and Samuel Street with new traffic lights and signalised pedestrian crossings on all legs
- Providing new bus priority lanes on Mona Vale Road on the approaches to and departures from the intersection of Ponderosa Parade and Samuel Street
- Relocating the eastbound bus stop on Mona Vale Road near the Ponderosa Parade and Samuel Street intersection further east to the departure side of the intersection
- Providing a three metre wide shared path along the northern side of Mona Vale Road between the eastern end of the Lane Cove Road cul-de-sac and Samuel Street for pedestrians and cyclists
- Providing a three metre wide shared path along the southern side of Mona Vale Road between Ponderosa Parade and Foley Street for pedestrians and cyclists
- Changing the speed limit from 70km/h to 80 km/h once the road upgrade work is complete
- Implementing a 60km/h truck and bus speed limit for the downhill descent from Ingleside Road to the base of the escarpment
- Providing a truck arrester bed, about 180 metres long, for eastbound vehicles next to Walana Crescent
- Building six fill retaining walls up to six metres in height and five cuttings up to 16 metres in height along the length of Mona Vale Road due to the local terrain
- Providing fauna connectivity measures
- Upgrading the existing road and cross drainage systems including the construction, reconstruction and extension of the road drainage network
- Establishing temporary site compounds and stockpile locations during construction
- Landscaping over the length of the proposal
- Installing traffic monitoring cameras at all signalised intersections to assist with traffic management
Below run some pictures taken by Pittwater Online a few weeks on from those run in May 2019 to show the changes taking place - for the record!
