Noise made about traffic
A HEAVY vehicle bypass is one resident’s solution to the ‘‘deafening’’ sound of traffic in Mataura’s Main St.
Isobel Livingstone lives at the south end of Main St, about 400m after the change of speed sign at the entrance of the town.
Mrs Livingstone said she moved to the house at the end of November and, as she was at home all day, was very aware of the sound of traffic.
‘‘The noise is deafening.’’
Even with double glazed windows and heavy curtains the noise was ‘‘invasive’’.
She also described the number of trucks travelling through the town as ‘‘astronomical’’. Mrs Livingstone’s neighbour Warren Beattie said he had written to CluthaSouthland MP Hamish Walker asking a heavy vehicle bypass be considered to take traffic away from this section of the Main St — part of State Highway 1.
‘‘It would keep the trucks away from the residential area.’’
A NZ Transport Agency spokesman confirmed the South Roads team had received complaints about the road surface and noise from empty truck and trailer units in Mataura’s Main St.
The piece of road was dug out, the holes were filled in and the surface was levelled in the second week of March.
‘‘However the material has sunk again and not solved the problem.
The repair would go ahead as soon as possible as only minor pieces of work had been delayed because of the Covid19 lockdown.
The suggested bypass, which would be a multimilliondollar project, would need to be considered through the National Land Transport Programme, the spokesman said. — The Ensign