There’s hope a pilot program will offer a solution to traffic noise for residents living along Ellerton Drive, near Queanbeyan. Photo: Google Maps/Screenshot.
A southern NSW council has locked in a plan to deal with traffic noise from the Ellerton Drive extension, but not all residents will benefit from the solution.
The 4.6-kilometre extension opened to the public in July 2020, offering a route that avoids Queanbeyan’s CBD and connects to areas south of the town.
Some parts of the road have noise walls. However, nearby residents have been dealing with traffic noise beyond what was expected, which the council attributes to development in the area.
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) has supported a pilot program under which more than a dozen properties, identified as the “highest priority” in council papers, will be in line for noise mitigation works.
Councillor Bryce Wilson thanked residents for their patience, but said it had “just taken too long” for the council to propose a solution.
“It is the noise differentiation,” he said of his concern with the Ellerton Drive extension.
“It’s not necessarily like living next to the M5.”
According to council papers, a 2025 estimate found traffic volume and predictions of future noise were higher than initially forecast (coming in at 3 to 5 dB higher).
“Endorsing the pilot program will enable detailed inspection, scoping and costing of treatments for the 15 highest-priority properties, after which Council can consider options for any remaining budget and any future stages of the program,” the papers say.
“It will also provide evidence of what noise mitigation works have a positive impact on residents’ quality of living and estimates can be developed for further support from the NSW Government to address the noise levels for all eligible properties.”
The pilot program means the council will start with work on 15 properties, but there will be a budget cap of $30,000 per property.
A place of worship and a council-owned property along the road have been excluded from that list.
Under the council’s budget, only $500,000 has been set aside for noise treatment works.
However, Cr Katrina Willis said the cost cap approach risked leaving properties without a full solution.
“We might have to decide that the worst-affected properties actually need more assistance rather than trying to sprinkle money,” she said.
She also pointed to concerns raised in a residents’ working group that heavy-vehicle noise was disturbing them, particularly at specific times.
“It’s loud noise, episodic, if you like, but regularly early in the morning.
“Now, if you’re using the government’s guideline for assessing whether treatment’s needed because your internal noise is above the benchmark, you use an average … I’m after confirmation that there really isn’t a way under this methodology of having regard to those loud episodic noises, even if they occur regularly.”
In response, a staff member told councillors that noise assessments measured average noise levels.
“They do not directly measure individual heavy-vehicle passby events or maximum noise level experience inside the dwelling, and that will certainly be one of the issues raised,” he said.
“The property could therefore achieve the proposed night-time average, while [the] individual experiences the disturbed sleep.”
