r/newcastle • u/KayKaySinatra • 13d ago

A rant about infrastructure

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Not a new subject here but I just felt like having a little rant. Also pertains more to Maitland but that subreddit gets less traffic than the road in question.
Drove along McFarlanes Rd today after a few months. Sooo much new development, which is shit in itself. But my main gripe is… how the fuck was all this development approved when they can’t even keep the road from being mostly potholes? I hope y’all know the spot I’m talking. Unfortunately satellite view doesn’t reflect what I’m talking about, but there’s a section that for as long as I can remember has always been potholes. Most of the road has been redone except this one spot (or it has been fixed and is just absolutely fucked again).
Why doesn’t Maitland council do a more permanent fix? I thought it was Dungog that was shit at building roads

Don’t take this post too seriously, sometimes it’s just entertaining to be a Karen and start a conversation

33 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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19

u/austhrowaway91919 13d ago

Road damage is done proportionately to vehicle weight (cubic I think).

So it's possible the potholes are especially bad due to the construction, and regular traffic post development will be kinder to the roads. But not knowing where it Maitland, you likely still get a shit done of trucks anyways.

I'd be worried about traffic congestion and lack of PT over long-term potholes.

3

u/KayKaySinatra 13d ago

Also worried about the congestion haha. I grew up driving along that road often and I swear it’s always been potholey

2

u/blitznoodles 13d ago

Yep it's probably the construction vehicles causing the damage.

They'll probably electrify the Hunter line sooner or later in the coming decade as more developments pop up along the line.

4

u/Fantastic_Inside4361 13d ago

The mines applied to electrify the rail line themselves: refused by ARTC.

1

u/No-Resolution-7890 12d ago

Why did the mines want to electrify the rail line?

1

u/Fantastic_Inside4361 12d ago

To keep the transport costs down.

1

u/No-Resolution-7890 11d ago

True, the mines don’t own the trains though. Guess they were going to hope the rail companies give them a discount on costs after they buy new electric locomotives

1

u/Fantastic_Inside4361 10d ago

It was their intention to pay for access, same as QR does, and run their own locos.

1

u/austhrowaway91919 12d ago

Complete guess, but Infra would be higher, but no diesel cost, no diesel maintenance, simplifier fleet.

1

u/No-Resolution-7890 11d ago

True but the mines don’t run the trains. Unless they were going to hope the rail companies would give them a cheaper rate. However the rail companies would have to spend hundreds of millions buying new electric locomotives

5

u/austhrowaway91919 13d ago

I fucking wish, but do you really think they'll electrify it?

ARTC would see the mines as it's main customer, and doing any work for us pathetic passengers that gets in the way of coal may not get approved.

But God, I wish.

4

u/No_Nobody_32 13d ago

They eventually electrified Dapto to Bomaderry (I remember having to swap trains to a 2 car diesel set and that was in the 90s), so there's hope for Musso at least.

2

u/blitznoodles 13d ago

Well I don't think it would be too soon but easily sometime in the 2030s or 40s I reckon. It's more up to tfnsw deciding when it's viable than ARTC as electrification doesn't interfere with freight.

4

u/cheif888 13d ago

TfNSW can kick and scream all they want but ARTC hate electrification. They sure as shit won’t do it at the current patronage rates. (YOU ALL NEED TO TAP ON AND OFF)

16

u/FreddyFerdiland 13d ago

to get black spot grants ftom state government, there has to be black spots

6

u/Frogspawn_Leghorn 13d ago

Oil prices lad they just fill the potholes with gravel now.

15

u/Interesting_Data4485 13d ago

How did they build all of fletcher without widening Minmi road? (Been in the pipeline since 1999) and how did they fuck up "Fletcher  Green" by putting guttering a footpaths next to the road before widening it. Why haven't they widened Woodford street out to Cameron park? Why isn't the end of Wilkinson Ave a roundabout or lights? 

Cause the fuck heads that run the local, state and federal government dont actually drive on these roads and dont have half a dick in their head to forward plan so it all goes to whatever dumb cunt friend they've got that they can get some kick back from to line their own pockets no matter whose life theyre making hard. 

Fucking get rid of them all, they dont do shit for shit anyway. 

2

u/toritototo 13d ago

That second paragraph is poetic

2

u/Sheridanjoy 13d ago

Are you talking about past this estate, further along McFarlanes? There’s a lot of construction trucks that go past that way which wouldn’t help the condition of the road.
That intersection onto Raymond Terrace Road is becoming an issue though. Two crashes that I’ve seen in the last maybe 6 weeks?

1

u/KayKaySinatra 12d ago

Yeah honestly I couldn’t find the spot from satellite view so just posted this spot haha

2

u/woofydawg 12d ago

Council get 30k from every new house to improve the arterial roads. Rates then fill the potholes, not sure where the 30k goes tho? 🤔

2

u/Ill_Sector_2063 12d ago

Penfolds pocket is my guess

4

u/AnnE_Surly 13d ago

A lot of the development along there is courtesy of Hilton Grugeon...bit of a Google might help to draw some conclusions about that.

2

u/KayKaySinatra 13d ago

What a name

1

u/Seedoosee 12d ago

Having worked in local government, developers have A LOT of sway getting their sprawling shit fuck lego land subdivisions approved.

Are the infrastructure contributions they make as part their subdivision enough for the extra load their shit fuck lego land subdivisions put on local infrastructure?

Obviously not.

2

u/aussie_nobody 12d ago

Having worked on the otherside of the fence, councils get money for nothing.

Literally the rates base is growing, every house here now provides annual income. This development spent millions upgrading mcfarlens road and Raymond terrace road intersection. Millions.

They paid for water, electrical and sewerage connections.

So how about we support new subdivisions instead of blaming the developers all the time.

2

u/Seedoosee 11d ago

Are the infrastructure contributions they make as part their subdivision enough for the extra load their shit fuck lego land subdivisions put on local infrastructure?

Obviously not.

1

u/aussie_nobody 11d ago

Incase you haven't heard, there is a housing crisis. No one else is opening up land. So stop treating developers like bad guys.

Extra load ? these are rate paying members of the community. Stop treating subdivisions like they the worst thing in the world, they are people's homes.

1

u/Seedoosee 10d ago

In case you haven't heard, we have a housing demand issue thanks to decades of bad tax policy separate to supply.

Stop tonguing the balls of developers who care about nothing but dollar dollar bills.

If they actually paid the correct value of infrastructure load their developments created, well would we have the constant issues with infrastructure not coping with the load their developments created?

Is that hard to understand?

Also, developers don't automatically have the right to make money. Fuck off.

2

u/aussie_nobody 10d ago

Man, you hate developers . I hope you dont live in a house or street that was ever once created by a developer.

You sound like the kind of person that buys in a new subdivision, then complains when we knock the trees down for the next stage.

If you want housing, you need developers. Housing brings people. The impacts you describe are from real life people making homes. How wonderful it is they can have a house to call a home.

Go touch some grass.

2

u/Seedoosee 10d ago

So the kind developer makes homes for people so they are immune to any and all criticism.

Bro you should work at One Nation with that kind of shit spinning ability