THE gates at the Adamstown railway crossing were closed for more than six hours during a 24-hour survey, but the cost of building an overpass was not justifiable, a report to the State Government says.
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The Freight Hub Hunter study, prepared for the Department of Premier and Cabinet and other agencies, examined the need for a freight rail bypass of Newcastle as part of work to identify a potential hub site.
Its final report, dated October and released by Premier Nathan Rees's office to The Herald on request, cited RTA investigations of the crossing.
The RTA was said to have observed the crossing over 24 hours in December 2007 and counted 119 gate closures, ranging from about a minute to nearly 11 minutes.
More than 50 of the closures exceeded three minutes, and the gates were closed for a total of 6.5 of the 24 hours.
The RTA examined a grade separation, such as an overpass or underpass. It would be "expensive", entailed substantial property acquisition and "is currently unable to be justified", the hub report said.
It also said removing freight trains from the line would reduce closures to 2.2 hours in 24, or about a third of present delays.
The report's reference to the RTA work partly preempts the release of a $50,000 review of the crossing, which Newcastle MP Jodi McKay and then premier Morris Iemma announced in October last year.
It was to have been completed by mid-2008 but has been delayed. Transport Minister David Campbell said last week the review was done, was being examined and would be released "shortly".
Ms McKay said she had spoken to Mr Campbell about the review's release but had not seen it and, in any case, did not know how the Government would pay for any "short-term fix", such as an overpass.
"One of the reasons I supported [the privatisation of the electricity industry] was because of Adamstown," Ms McKay said.
Jewells resident Kerrie Hamilton is no stranger to the traffic queues at the level crossing.
"I used to get stuck here more often when I'd go over it on the way to work every day," she said. "It'd be between five to 10 minutes sometimes unbelievable."
Asked if she thought the Government should build an overpass, she said she was not hopeful.
"I don't know what they should do exactly, but I think we're stuck with [the crossing]," she said.
