Level crossing removal: LXRP works in Moreland leave residents sleepless
A group of Moreland residents has banded together after likening the noise made by 24/7 level crossing removal works to torture. They said medical professionals and essential workers are being deprived of sleep.
North West
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Coburg residents are sleepless in Moreland.
People living between Moreland Rd and Bell St are fed up with the 24/7 level crossing removal works taking place saying they can’t sleep because of the noise.
Hundreds of households have come together to lobby the Level Crossing Removal Authority to not conduct works between 10pm and 7am.
But the authority says it has offered households the option of relocation while works take place, and about 200 have accepted the offer.
Sleepless in Moreland spokeswoman Tanya Pittard said living through a pandemic while this the level crossing works were happening has only made things worse.
“Sleep is a basic human right. Doctors have long recognised the impact sleep or lack of it can have on mental health,” she said.
“At a time when we are being stretched to the limits balancing paid work from home, household work, remote learning and volunteer work, we all need a good night’s sleep to help maintain our resilience throughout the weeks of lockdown.”
The group said medical professionals, mental health providers, teachers, essential permitted workers and vulnerable residents of the John Fawkner hospital palliative care units were all being denied sleep, and will be for up to 105 continuous nights.
“We simply want to be able to sleep. It is a simple matter of requiring the project to abide by the LXRP own EPA construction noise regulations which stipulate giving us respite between 10pm and 7am,” Ms Pittard said.
The group said people should be the priority during COVID restrictions and the State Government was hypocritical investing in mental health while “wilfully allowing a project which is having a huge impact on the mental health of thousands to proceed”.
But project director of the Bell to Moreland level crossing removal project Matt Thorpe said they have always had the residents in mind.
“We have supported the community by offering over 300 families temporary relocation as we remove four dangerous and congested level crossings, including one of Melbourne’s worst bottlenecks at Bell Street,” he said.
The team removing four level crossings, elevating a 2.5km section of the Upfield line and building two stations at Moreland and Coburg is working 24 hours a day until mid-November, when trains will resume running on the Upfield line.
The LXRA said it was compliant with all requirements when undertaking this critical 24/7 work and the alternative would be shorter periods of work over a much longer time frame, meaning greater disruption overall.
It said some of the noisiest work, known as piling, had recently finished and upcoming work would be much quieter.
It advised anyone with questions to phone its 24/7 call centre on 1800 105 105 and speak with the relocation team.
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