Newbie
no way will LTA allow maplewoods to get their way. else next time for every project every few hundred meters got people KPKB and then LTA will have to address their every concerns, then no need to do any work liao.
To me, for maplewoods residents it is tough luck, but at least the station will be very near. they are lucky LTA never say acquire part of their property, like those at marymount kenna for the NS expressway.
Junior
yes, be soft but be firm. If you bend backward to accommodate everyone in every condo, the new north south highway would have to be moved to johor.Originally Posted by mkl22
Junior
Haha.. the news article very funny..
Vivian says somewhere someone will have to have the launch shaft up theirs.... hehe...
But will Maplewoods have a mispricing in future due to this shaft up theirs? Can buy ??
Bricks & Mortar
Guess, LTA would never launch a shaft up at Oxley or Istana...., other than those elite places..., rest of Singapore they can do what they want...in the name of MRT line...
Probably case of screw-up somewhere, no choice...shaft already at MW doorstep, need to endure and have it shaft up....liao. Hard luck MW, just endure..., u will be fine...
Newbie
maybe in the short term, rental will be affected. but when the downtown line is completed everything will be back to normal. so no reason why prices should take a hit.
Newbie
That's fair enough if they are not jepordising people's safety. In this case the original plans did just that, though I think now the solution is better.
The rest of it, I don't care so much......traffic, a bit of noise etc. since that's always been there but certainly the main issue has been the number of trucks driving around the entrance of MW and how the cars/people can get in and out safely.
Out of curiosity I did maths on the volume of 'dirt' being removed and it easily came it to between 1500 & 2000 trucks/day, and not including the number needed for materials to enter the tunnel. Original plans had them entering/exiting (full) the job site just a couple of meters from the MW exit gate.
Newbie
If you look at the recent URA transaction, I think Maplewoods has already factor in the MRT line into their price. 1300+ psf for a 14 years old D21 condo you go decide if it is worth the price.
Bricks & Mortar
might as well buy Nexus, newer....
Newbie
Are you sure? Assuming 1500 trucks/day, that means abt 1 truck per minute (1500 divide 24 divide 60) . . .how is the contractor going to fill up an entire truck in a minute's time. . .
Junior
Exactly! This sounds like an exaggeration.
I think the best and safest way is for LTA to acquire one block in Maplewoods itself. Cordon off the area and make it a dedicated area for shafting or whatever you call it.
After works are completed the acquired land can be resold to recoup the requisition cost. If the land has become unsuitable for high rise as a result, it can be converted for other uses like building a columbarium or something like that.
Newbie
hahahaha, sounds better than tearing down 10 shophouses at six ave since the MW owners can sort out which block to be "sacrificed" for the good of the MW residents
Newbie
Well what I would do is get 10-20 trucks and load them simultaneously........
voila - net 1 truck per minute - easy.
whether the 1500 trucks/day figure is correct is a different thing.
Senior
Today's newspaper also reported the unhappiness of residents. Anyway, there's really only so much the govt can do or are willing to do.
Bricks & Mortar
Doubt contractor can execute 1500 truck per day or 1 truck per minute. Need space for truck to park, waiting to load up, manoeurve their way in and out areas around the site.
Realistically, it's like per minutes per truck, probably 300 trucks per day.
Anyway, there will be buzzing with contruction activities whether 1500 or 300 trucks a day. Residents will be pissed.
Newbie
Have u considered if the work site has enough space to park/load 10-20 trucks simultaneously including the excavators, bulldozers, etc. ???
Newbie
Actually I would be concern about the long term traffic congestion outside MW once the MRT station is completed. Just wondering if there will be a long queue of cars waiting to pick up and dropping passenger at the station.
Junior
yes, just look at Clementi mall. Queues of vans dropping off and picking up residents of private condos. having a MRT station at your doorsteps can be a nightmare.
Newbie
That means there will be non-stop traffic flows in and out of the site 24X7?
Junior
1) Noise Pollution 24x7
2) Dust Pollution 24x7
3) Light pollution 24x7 (They cannot dig in the dark..it's stadium spotlight type?).
Newbie
So quite impossible as when I drove by, I didn't really see non-stop traffic flows in and out
Newbie
hmm..what has this got to do with Oxley or Istana?Guess, LTA would never launch a shaft up at Oxley or Istana...., other than those elite places..., rest of Singapore they can do what they want...in the name of MRT line...
Probably case of screw-up somewhere, no choice...shaft already at MW doorstep, need to endure and have it shaft up....liao. Hard luck MW, just endure..., u will be fine...
Newbie
I guess the point is:hmm..what has this got to do with Oxley or Istana?
this is nothing to do with Oxley or Istana,
and it will never has anything to do with Oxley or Istana
hiyo all
Best idea I heard so far
hungry eatsleepy sleep
Newbie
Correct.
Truck numbers, consider movements so trucks going in and out.....like an airport counting planes up and down, each counts as a single instance.
hiyo all
Maplewoods, take a lesson from your humbler HDB dwellers. The world does not revolve around you.
ST,Jul 18, 2011
No pain, no gain, say those living near MRT worksites
Residents say short-term inconvenience is worth it as they reap the benefits later
By Royston Sim
FOR about seven years, Madam Julie Foo had to put up with noise and dust during the construction of the Circle Line's Mountbatten Station, sited right in front of her HDB block at Old Airport Road.
A deep hole measuring 25m on all sides was dug less than 20m from the block. Called a launch shaft, the hole was put in to allow boring machines to drill a tunnel from Mountbatten Station to Dakota Station.
Madam Foo's view was marred by the sight of all those construction machines, and when work took place at night, she had trouble sleeping.
'It was difficult at first because of the dust and noise, but I thought it was worth putting up with these things short term so we could benefit in the long term,' said the 48-year-old an assistant manager.
In 2009, the station was completed and the machines removed. The noise and dust are now just a memory.
She said her flat, which she bought for $330,000, has shot up in value to about $750,000. 'I can walk to the MRT station in less than five minutes,' she added.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has used launch shafts for every underground MRT project since the 1980s.
Engineers plan for one launch shaft between every two stations so tunnelling works can take place concurrently to expedite the construction process.
The shafts hit the spotlight recently when residents of Maplewoods condominium protested against having one sited outside their compound as part of the MRT works for Downtown Line 2.
Work on the King Albert Park Station site outside the Bukit Timah Road condo was halted last month after residents voiced their concerns. Among other things, they said trucks carting debris away from the tunnelling works would endanger both pedestrians and vehicles passing by.
They questioned why LTA had not sited the station at Sixth Avenue instead. They later came up with their own proposal - to have tunnelling run from Tan Kah Kee Station outside Hwa Chong Institution to King Albert Park Station. Then, launch shafts would not be needed outside their condo or at Sixth Avenue, they argued.
However, at a dialogue last Wednesday, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Vivian Balakrishnan said work on the line would have to resume, after having been delayed for a month.
He said LTA had addressed the safety issues raised, through measures such as building a pedestrian footpath along the work site and relocating the entrance for trucks to nearby Blackmore Drive.
As for the residents' tunnelling proposal, LTA engineers said such a move would be unfeasible as it would delay the entire Downtown Line 2 project, due to be completed in 2015.
Residents who have lived near MRT construction sites say some inconvenience is inevitable.
Housewife Jane Tan, whose HDB block at Old Airport Road was just 9m from the Circle Line's Dakota Station site, recalled the roadworks and bus diversions. A trench 190m long, 30m wide and 18m deep was dug, and part of Old Airport Road was closed to traffic in 2006, so cars and public buses had to be diverted.
'There was quite a bit of noise and dust, but it was bearable,' the 55-year-old housewife recalled. 'I was afraid the works would affect the foundations of my block since they were so close. The ground sank a bit, but LTA came to touch it up.'
Residents near the Circle Line's Marymount Station had stories to tell as well. LTA encountered hard rock granite while tunnelling, so it had to resort to blasting. Residents had to endure the vibrations and the noise for more than six months.
In 2003, residents of Chuan Park in Lorong Chuan discovered that the Singapore Land Authority would be acquiring 220 sq m of land from their compound to build Lorong Chuan Station. When work began, they had to put up with noise, multiple road diversions and a temporary realignment of the condo's exit.
But to most, the inconvenience was worth it in the end.
Mr Chan Chee Keong, 68, the council chairman for Chuan Park condo, said residents there were happy that their estate had appreciated in value.
'It is worth your while to bear the pain,' he said. 'You cannot get something for nothing.'
At other condos in Bukit Timah, some residents said they too had been forced to live with certain inconveniences, even though they had not been as badly affected as residents at Maplewoods.
Still, general practitioner Sharon Yeo, 43, who lives at nearby Casa Esperanza, said: 'We have to be realistic. If we want an MRT station, we must expect some inconveniences.'
As for Maplewoods residents, the outcome of their campaign has been bitter-sweet for some.
Management consultant Steve Chu, 52, felt that LTA should have been 'a lot more forthcoming' about its planning process from the start.
'Now we have solutions, but the battle was won in a bitter-sweet fashion,' he said.
In contrast, IT consultant C.A. Chua, 38, was quite satisfied with the outcome and felt that LTA had done its part in considering residents' suggestions.
She said: 'In the end, the station will bring benefits to the residents.'
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hungry eat
Newbie
The fact quite a few amendments were made shows original LTA plans were not satisfactory and that in the end the LTA even agreed.
Perhaps HDB and other condos should also raise their voice from time to time and not assume the LTA is correct. In the end more changes wouldn't or couldn't be made because it was already too late, so how many of the other plans from LTA are adding costs and time here or there?
Newbie
i think there is a difference between sending proposals to LTA for them to consider making amendments to their original plans and proposing to LTA for the launch shaft, etc. to be sited somewhere else. . .
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