Editorial: White Elephant for Blue Horse

THE Council’s decision to pick the most expensive rail overpass option to serve the least amount of residents looks set to deliver another overpriced, unpopular structure…a little like their decision to buy a blue string horse, so now we seem set to have a $31 million white elephant to be its friend. See story: Council Change Overpass Location.

The decision seemed to come out of the blue, pun intended.

There have been options of St Aubin’s, Kelly Street and Sherwood Street, but Muffett Street appeared out of nowhere and took the lead.

The whole point of having an “in town” rail overpass was so that we wouldn’t be stuck sitting at boom gates waiting for coal trains and having an overpass for trucks on a Tuesday going to the sale yards does not improve that.

The fact that it is by far the most expensive option just adds insult to injury.

I always preferred the St Aubin’s option, it would mean Elizabeth Park would not be impacted and since the bypass intersection will be at St Aubin’s Street anyway it will mean traffic coming off the bypass will be delivered straight into the middle of the main street, without snaking down Aberdeen Street and Liverpool Street.

It is an option I liked more when I saw it was the cheapest at $16.5 million, almost half the cost of the overpass for the saleyards.

It seems ridiculous that the Council has prioritised not wanting cattle trucks waiting at a level crossing at Muffett Street, but is ok for everyone else in the town to wait several times a day at boom gates.

Perhaps the issue stems from Council’s inability to do the maths on level crossings…bear with me.

The position of the Australian Rail Track Corporation is to reduce the number of level crossings, which is fair enough for safety.

Council have said they can’t “open” a rail crossing for the trucks at Muffett Street, hence they want the overpass there.

However two years ago a Council representative showed me a map of level crossings and there are technically two crossings in the form of old stock routes near the sale yards.

There is also an emergency crossing at Kingdon Street and of course the two crossings at Liverpool and Kelly Street, so five level crossings in total.

If they put boom gates on one of the “existing” crossings at the saleyards for safety, they are not “opening” a crossing just improving the safety of one and they could formally close the other crossing which is a stock route.

Then if the overpass was put at Kelly Street or St Aubin’s Street then the emergency crossing at Kingdon Street could be closed and so you could effectively close two level crossings, possibly three if the overpass at Kelly Street and still have a safe level crossing for trucks on Tuesday.

Hence it meets the numbers test for the ARTC of reducing crossings, improves safety of an existing crossing for the trucks and the overpass can be kept for the majority of the residents to use in town.

But with the decision making track record of this Council I fear we will be stuck sitting at the boom gates, with an overpriced white elephant at the saleyards.

Elizabeth Flaherty
Editor, scone.com.au