Al Maitland-Stuart wants the city council to improve the condition of Maces Rd, near the Dyers Rd exit, and divert heavy truck traffic away from the partially residential stretch of road.
“It’s just unbelievable. Just an absolutely terrible disruption for us when you’re trying to sleep and go to work the next morning,” Maitland-Stuart said.
“It can be basically every night at times and you get all this crashing and rattling noise.”
Maces Rd carries significant heavy truck traffic from nearby industrial yards and has been in poor condition since the earthquakes.
Maitland-Stuart said the noise worsened significantly in the middle of last year after an additional container yard opened nearby.
He has been frustrated by what he sees as a lack of action and responsiveness to email complaints sent to Mayor Phil Mauger, Linwood Ward city councillor Yani Johanson and city council staff.
A city council spokesperson said staff were aware of the noise issue, and the mayor’s office had been in contact with Maitland-Stuart about the condition of the road since December 12.
“We understand the frustration caused by noisy vehicles travelling along the road at night,” the spokesperson said.
“The resident was advised in early January that staff have taken on his feedback and it will be included in their review.”
Johanson apologised for not responding to Maitland-Stuart’s emails when spoken to by The Star, but said he was working to accelerate the rollout of upgrades to Bromley roads.
A $5 million funding package has been approved for upgrading the suburb’s roads, although much of the work is still to be completed.
By the end of May, some Maces Rd intersections will be narrowed, with crossings and speed humps added to slow traffic and improve pedestrian connectivity.
Johanson said it was unclear whether the planned upgrades would address Maitland-Stuart’s concerns about truck noise, and encouraged him to continue lodging complaints with the city council and to make a public deputation to the Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board.
Maitland-Stuart said it was frustrating further complaints at a public meeting might be required before the issue was addressed.
“How much longer must we keep suffering before they do something?” he said.
Maitland-Stuart first contacted the council’s call centre in November to complain about the noise. The road was evened-out in response, significantly reducing the disruption.
However, he said further works in December, which replaced the surface with new chip seal, made the problem worse than ever.
“I won’t rest until this problem is fixed, like literally, I can barely sleep properly.”
The city council spokesperson said the chip sealing was part of the regular rolling programme of road works and that noise levels would improve as traffic bedded in the new surface.
Maitland-Stuart wants heavy trucks diverted from Maces Rd at night, at least, to fully industrial roads in the area such as Wickham St.
The council rejected the idea, saying Maces Rd was the only access route to parts of the Bromley industrial area.
“As Maces Rd is designated as a collector road within the district plan, it is expected to take heavy vehicles and wouldn’t be appropriate to have such a restriction.”
Maitland-Stuart disagreed and said he still wanted the council to investigate the option.
