As Terry Cho peers out the window of his daughter’s bedroom, the sound of a truck approaching along the new 110km Hamilton expressway sends a shiver of unease up his body.
Cho and his family are often awoken in the night to the sound of traffic noise but, for the father of two, he cannot bear to think that the trucks are ploughing past a couple of dozen metres from his daughter’s window.
She doesn’t feel safe either, and has shifted into her sister’s room.
“I’m worried about the safety issues, not just the sounds,” Cho said. “It’s not safe… My house and my neighbour’s house are less than 20m… right up close to the motorway,” he said.
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“The sound coming from the motorway is quite a hassle, it’s a lot especially at nighttime. Because our window is on the motorway side we can hear the cars coming directly past… We wake in the middle of the night.”
Following its opening on July 14, the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway received praise from those testing the newfound accessibility and reduced travel times.
But it has since given northern Hamilton residents in the suburbs of Rototuna and Horsham Downs a headache, with one saying it’s like having an airport in their backyard.
Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency) has overseen the construction of the $837 million project, which started in 2016 after decades of planning.
Terry Cho estimates the new section of the Waikato Expressway is less than 20 metres away from his Rototuna North home. He and his family have been struggling to come to terms with it.
In a statement, the agency said a four-lane highway would inevitably create noise.
A traffic noise management plan for the expressway specified the consented noise limits.
They range from 55dB to 70dB, Waka Kotahi said – adding that they vary by house and depend on accepted noise levels from before the expressway was built.
During and prior to construction, the agency said it was in communication with landowners to explain the impacts the highway would have.
“Busy four-lane highways create noise and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency works hard to minimise disruption to neighbours,” regional manager of transport services Jo Wilton said.
“Waka Kotahi is required to monitor noises levels and provide a report to consent holder, Waikato Regional Council, within three months of the expressway opening. So this is now getting under way.
“An expressway running through a previously quiet rural area alters the ambient noise levels and noise character, and this may take some time to get used to.”
The loophole however is that residents who started building on land after the expressway was green-lit in 2012 were not covered by noise limit regulations.
Christel Yardley/Stuff
Myoungsook Lim’s home backs onto the new Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway and she says she has been losing sleep over the noise, but pleas have gone nowhere.
One resident said they were told to find their own solution to the problems as their house was built after the expressway designation was consented by Hamilton City Council.
In a statement, the council said it had granted 279 land use and subdivision consents near the Expressway in Rototuna since the designation was decided.
Planning guidance manager Grant Kettle said council had put conditions on the consent to mitigate the impact.
“Buildings where the building line is within 100m from the edge of the nearest carriageway of the Waikato Expressway have been protected from traffic noise by making sure they were designed and constructed to meet an indoor design sound level,” he said.
Online debate about the impact of the expressway has been heightened.
Christel Yardley/Stuff
Waka Kotahi says sections of quieter asphalt and noise buffering mechanisms have already been included on the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway.
“I am maybe 300m from the new 110kph four lane road,” said a Rototuna north resident, who wanted to keep their identity private. “Even with the double-glazed windows shut the noise is like aircraft taking off, especially at night with the road full of long-distance hauling trucks – like a long drone sound.
“I welcome someone from the expressway design team to sit in my yard at 2am, for just 30mins, and listen to the trucks whiz by and confirm to me that the noise is acceptable.”
Residents in Rototuna north and Horsham Downs have called for more noise buffering, such as vegetation or a protective bank.
Waka Kotahi says noise mitigation is already in place where required for its consent.
The agency said an asphalt surface has been used on the expressway “which is much quieter than chip seal used on most roads”.
“Noise mitigation, where required to meet consent limits, has been done via walls, bunds, cuttings and sections of quieter asphalt,” Wilton said.
“Waka Kotahi is required to monitor noise levels and provide a report to consent holder, Waikato Regional Council, within three months of the expressway opening. So this is now getting under way.
“If the measured levels don’t comply with the consent conditions, further noise mitigation … will be added.”
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