Big noise over noise walls

A PETITION will be launched soon calling for the State Government to improve noise walls near Endeavour Hills.
Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan said that noise walls on the Monash Freeway across Eumemmerring Creek needed to be improved to stop noise invading homes throughout Endeavour Hills.
But VicRoads said the area was not eligible for additional noise attenuation works and Minister for Transport Terry Mulder had questioned why Mr Donnellan did not try to improve the walls several years ago.
Mr Donnellan said the noise walls across the bridge at Eumemmerring Creek on the Endeavour Hills side of the freeway were lower than the walls elsewhere along the road.
“Constant noise day and night from the freeway can be detrimental to residents’ wellbeing. A small measure of improving these noise walls can have a very positive effect for the community,” he said.
“Whenever there is a southerly wind, noise floats up from the freeway to homes like it’s an amphitheatre.”
Mr Donnellan said he would be launching a petition in the next month calling on Mr Mulder to provide funding to improve the noise walls along the Monash Freeway south of Endeavour Hills.
Mr Mulder said Mr Donnellan should have tried to improve the walls when the Labor Government was in power.
“Luke Donnellan was a senior member of the previous Labor Government, and he had eight years to do something, but didn’t,” Mr Mulder said.
“The walls he refers to were put up by the former Labor Government in 2003, so why didn’t he do it then?”
VicRoads regional director of Metro South East Peter Todd said the installation of noise walls along freeways was guided by the VicRoads’ Traffic Noise Reduction Policy and VicRoads considered the different barrier heights to be appropriate in meeting the policy requirements.
“Noise reduction treatments may be along existing freeways where the noise levels that are exceeded for six minutes in each one-hour period from 6am to midnight, when averaged together, exceed 68 decibels,” Mr Todd said.
“Traffic noise modelling shows that the noise levels on the section of the Monash Freeway near the South Gippsland Freeway merge in Endeavour Hills is below the 68 decibel threshold. Accordingly, this section of the freeway is not currently eligible for additional noise attenuation works.”