Residents living in the leafy suburbs near the new Mount Ousley interchange can expect to see vegetation being cleared in the coming weeks, as early work on the $390 million project ramps up.
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Transport for NSW advised residents that workers will begin removing vegetation and doing other works in February, before major construction begins later in 2024.
Last month, Fulton Hogan was awarded the tender to design and build the major interchange, which will create a separate southbound lane for trucks as well as an overpass linking into a new northern entrance to the University of Wollongong.
It will also see an end to vehicles having to turn right across three lanes of oncoming traffic to go north from Mount Ousley Road.
With several hectares of land needing to be cleared to make way for new roads and other infrastructure, vegetation clearing will make some parts of the surrounding suburbs, Mount Ousley and Keiraville, look very different once the project is complete.
"To gain access to locations for survey and geotechnical investigation we will be trimming, pruning and removing trees, where required," Transport for NSW told residents in a letter this week.
To reduce the impact of trees and animals, workers will complete pre-clearing checklists and inspections, and engage with suitably qualified ecologists and vegetation removal contractors to carry out the work, the letter said.
They will install nest boxes as supplementary fauna habitat and undertake a "staged removal" for identified hollow bearing and habitat trees.
However, the agency has warned that "extensive clearing of vegetation around the motorway and some adjoining streets will be necessary to build this significant infrastructure project".
Local landscape would be 'permanently altered'
According to the project's Review of Environmental Factors, more than seven hectares of native vegetation, five hectares of roadside and urban plantings and one hectare of weed-dominated vegetation need to be cleared.
Eventually, some of this will be replaced with landscaped plantings - but residents can expect significant visual changes to exist for up to a decade after construction finishes, the REF says, as the plants and trees will take time to regrow.
"Some changes may have a negative impact on the visual landscape, such as the loss of vegetated areas between Dumfries Avenue and the M1 Princes Motorway and its replacement with road infrastructure, including two heavy vehicle safety ramps, a heavy vehicle off ramp and a heavy vehicle bypass," the review of environmental factors notes.
"The local landscape would be permanently altered by changed road surface levels, the two bridges (including the pedestrian bridge over Mount Ousley Road), retaining walls and other new road infrastructure.
"Some of the changes would be beneficial, such as the improved pedestrian and cyclist facilities, and roadside landscaping.
"The visual impact would be softened over time as the proposed landscape and plants reach maturity. The proposed landscaping and revegetation would also provide an effective visual shield for surrounding residential areas."
In addition to tree clearing, workers will be doing survey, pavement and geotechnical investigations to inform the project's detailed design and establishing storage areas and site compounds in the coming weeks.
Work will usually take place from Monday to Friday between 7am and 6pm, and Saturday between 8am and 1pm, weather permitting.
"We understand that delivering infrastructure projects does not occur without impacts and we will be working closely with nearby residents, businesses and road users to keep you informed during construction," Transport for NSW said.
In "early 2024" the government will publish an Urban Design and Landscape Strategy Report, which will detail how the project will fit without the landscape.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
