Locals put up fake signs on expressway
A group of sleep-deprived Kapiti Coast residents have put up fake road signs in a desperate attempt to quieten the trucks rumbling past their bedrooms along the new expressway.
The group, led by Raumati resident Nick Fisher, had some ‘‘no engine braking’’ signs made that look like official ones.
Yesterday, they put put them up along the edge of the 18-kilometrelong expressway, which runs between McKays Crossing and Peka Peka, north of Wellington.
‘‘It’s crazy that we have to take it into our own hands, but they’ve taken our quiet and we want it back,’’ Fisher said.
He accused the New Zealand Transport Agency of failing to act on residents’ complaints.
Fisher said his life changed dramatically when the first trucks rumbled down the expressway, which is about 100 metres from his home in Rata Rd, in February.
Sleepless nights had become the norm for his family since, prompting him to board up a bedroom window in an effort to reduce the noise.
He has established an action group of about 100 Kapiti residents, who are demanding noise-reducing work be carried out on the road. They want walls or bunds to be built along the expressway, but say the signs will be a good start.
‘‘We don’t want them to take away our motorway, but we want them to shut it up.’’
Under the resource consents issued for the expressway, properties need to return a noise reading over 57 decibels to be deemed affected by road noise. An acoustic report commissioned by the NZTA in May, from outside Fisher’s house, showed an average nighttime noise level of 67dB, and a high of 73dB.
NZTA senior manager of project delivery Chris Hunt acknowledged some people living near the expressway were experiencing noise from the road that did not previously exist.
‘‘We are listening to their concerns and have brought forward noise-monitoring work to ensure we are complying with the noise designation conditions.’’
The agency was also monitoring specific sources of road noise engine braking, traffic volumes and noisy exhausts - to inform any extra steps it might take, he said.
The agency could not erect any official engine-braking signs because it was against the law to put them on stretches of road with speed limits above 70kmh. The expressway has a speed limit of 100kmh.
‘‘Engine brakes are a key safety
"We don't want them to take away our motorway, but we want them to shut it up." Raumati resident Nick Fisher
feature for heavy vehicles, in particular in high-speed environments,’’ Hunt said.
But the agency could provide ‘‘advisory signs’’ recommending that trucks limit their engine braking.
Fisher fully expected the agency to remove his group’s signs, but said something needed to be done to highlight the ‘‘excessive’’ night-time noise.
The agency’s monitoring was averaging noise levels over 24 hours, which did not reflect the extent of the problem at night, he said.
A Regional Public Health spokeswoman said it was aware of the issue, and had contacted the NZTA.
Environmental noise could have a negative affect on health and wellbeing, she said.
‘‘We are taking seriously the health impacts of the noise on the residents of Kapiti.’’