The easing of congestion, saving time and increased safety are what excites the community most when it comes to the removal of up to six level crossings on the Inner Armadale Line.
Those level crossings are Mint Street, Oats Street, Welshpool Road, Hamilton Street, Wharf Street and William Street.
Almost 500 people took the opportunity to complete our survey that aimed to find out how the community uses the crossings and stations within the project area and what they thought we should consider for the new stations and public spaces.
Oats Street level crossing and Oats Street Station emerged as the most used over the last 12 months by our survey participants.
When it came to opportunities the project could provide, the community suggested:
• increasing safety
• improving station accessibility
• increasing shelter at stations
Noise levels was one of the community’s main concerns raised in the survey. Initial noise modelling shows we can expect an overall reduction in intrusive noise without the inclusion of any mitigation measures. As design progresses, modelling will continue to help determine what mitigation measures may be needed to further reduce noise for the community.
In addition to the survey, the project team has engaged with more than 250 local residents at two online information sessions and two community drop-in sessions.
Two Community Reference Groups (CRGs) have also recently been formed. A total of 96 applications were received with 20 members, that represented a broad cross-section of the community including residents, business owners and community group representatives, chosen across the two groups.
Going forward the CRGs will represent the interests and views of the community and will help the project team identify local opportunities, issues and concerns. As the project progresses the team will continue to engage with the wider community via online information sessions, community drop-in sessions, surveys and community events.
A summary of the results is available on our fact sheet.